Fire crews in Nanaimo extinguish blaze at recycling centre

Fire crews in Nanaimo were called out to a recycling center on the 300-block of Tenth Street following numerous reports of smoke emerging from the facility.

Authorities said when they arrived on scene just after 5 p.m. Tuesday, they could see flames as high as 20 feet coming off a pile of cardboard recycling.

No one was injured and crews were able to extinguish the blaze after using some of the on-site heavy equipment owned by the recycling plant.

“We had 20 firefighters working this fire, but ultimately we need the assistance of the excavator,” said Assistant Chief David Dales. “Just to kind of move those cardboard piles, so we can actually attack the fire directly.”

He adds that extinguishing the fire was challenging since the stacked piles of cardboard had to be pulled apart before they could be put out.

“The business owners and employees were amazing. They were actually fighting the fire on our arrival. Having the equipment here has been amazing,” Dales said.

The cause of the fire remains unknown and is currently under investigation.

RELATED: More Highway 4 closures as wildfire east of Port Alberni grows

Editorial Policies Report an Error