Pacific BioEnergy Corporation continues to investigate a fire that occurred at its Prince George plant on Saturday morning.
The incident was detected by employees at approximately 8:30 a.m. who then implemented the company’s emergency response plan and called Prince George Fire and Rescue.
A fire was observed at the top of a bucket elevator which transports wood pellets. Strong winds blew embers from the fire to the roof of a nearby electrical equipment building. Members of the Prince George Fire and Rescue Department responded and were able to extinguish both fires and stayed on scene for several hours to ensure that no additional incidents developed.
Prince George Fire Rescue estimated the damage at $750,000.
Pacific Bioenergy is continuing to monitor the site and its equipment. As these activities proceed, the company will be focused on the impacted areas and will be taking steps to prevent further incidents as damaged equipment and structure is assessed, removed, and repaired or replaced.
“We are thankful that none of our employees or firefighters were injured in this incident,” said John Stirling, Pacific Bioenergy president. “We are proud of the way our employees responded using their training and procedures for handling emergency situations. We thank them and appreciate their diligence through the entire incident. We also thank the PG Fire and Rescue Department for its quick response and effective handling of the situation. We will continue our investigation into what caused the fire and, as always, we are committed to learning from this incident, making improvements and sharing our learning with the industry. Our goal is to get our plant safely back into full operation as soon as possible.”