Revelstoke Fire Rescue Service personnel responded to a 911 call about a fire in the compressor room at Downie Timber on Tuesday, August 30, at 9:45 pm.
“Upon arrival, fire crews found heavy smoke pouring from the rear of the compressor building and sprinklers activated,” said Fire Chief Rob Girard, “We immediately ventilated and had an attack crew enter the structure for the fire attack.”
There was no one inside the building when fire crews first arrived on scene.
“The sprinkler system in the mill did a great job containing the fire to the area of origin,” Chief Girard said in a statement. “Without sprinklers this fire would have been a completely different matter for us.”
Firefighters extinguished and overhauled the fire in just under 30 minutes, with no injuries to any of the 17 responding firefighters. The Fire Rescue Service responded with 1 fire truck, Tender 5, Ladder 6 and 1 command vehicle.
“Our hats are off to the great staff and management at Downie Timber Ltd. who helped us when we first arrived right through to mop up,” Girard said. “We all realize how important this facility is to the community.”
He said that the fire was electrical in nature and was initiated in one of the large air compressors.
