A spontaneous fire that broke out in the hog piles at the Tolko mill Wednesday evening was quickly put under control by mill workers, but not before it generated a lot of smoke in the area.
Twenty-three firefighters were on the scene in three different engines, as well as support vehicles. Only one engine went all the way in to assist in suppressing the fire, however, while the other two held back at the entrance as backup. Behind them, curious onlookers drove slowly up Voght Street to see the source of the smoke. Some stopped to watch, but most turned around or kept going.
“Their crews were on scene immediately, obviously, and definitely had things well under control by the time the fire department arrived,” Merritt Fire Chief Dave Tomkinson told the Herald. “But nonetheless we assisted with some hose lines and some firefighting foam.”
He added that the mill left a fire watch on the area through the night.
Hog fuel is thinly chopped or finely ground pieces of wood, that, given the right temperature and humidity, can ignite. “Just like how compost gets really hot in the middle if you don’t turn it . . . this type of fuel has all the right qualities in the right humidity and temperature to do just that,” Tomkinson explained.
Tomkinson said that he was satisfied with the mill’s reaction to the blaze.
