Residents of Lethbridge, Bonavista Bay are worried and seeking answers after a massive bark pile near a major commercial sawmill caught fire for the second time this summer.
This time, a number of homes had to be evacuated because of the fire, which spread to surrounding woods.
The fire was finally put out yesterday.
The chair of the Local Service District, Roy Holloway, estimates the size of the bark pile at between 100 to 150 feet high.
(Clarenville Fire Department/Facebook)
The pile is generating its own heat, and Holloway says the four fire departments working on the blaze are only able to dampen the upper layers.
“Our fire departments are exhausted,” says Holloway. “They’re going around the clock, we got helicopters there dumping,” and waterbombers were at the scene on Monday. “All you’re doing is only putting a damper on it, because the heat is so massive, that you can’t get in to where the problem is. It’s generating heat itself.”
Holloway is not blaming the company, Sexton Lumber, for the problem. To the best of his knowledge there is no governing legislation regarding the disposal of wood waste and he says government needs to address the situation as soon as possible. He’s hoping to meet with department officials this Sunday to discuss the issue.
“It’s not to lay blame on anybody,” says Holloway. “It’s just we want some commitment now from government to get this rolling, to get the problem taken care of.”
