Fire involving chemicals knocked down at Burnaby encampment
Posted September 6, 2023 8:41 am.
Crews have knocked down a fire at an encampment of unhoused people in Burnaby that sent smoke billowing into the sky Wednesday morning.
The Burnaby Fire Department says calls of the fire in a forested area near Lougheed Highway and Holdom Avenue came in just after 7 a.m.
The @CityNewsVAN Air Patrol @DangerOnAir is above a fire at an encampment in the Central valley greenway just south of Lougheed #BCHwy7 at Holdom Ave in #Burnaby. Smoke is visible from #BCHwy1 #1130Traffic @sonicradio pic.twitter.com/525pQe4u2Z
— CityNews Vancouver Traffic (@CityNewsTraffic) September 6, 2023
Assistant Fire Chief Gavin Summers says the plastic that was on metal wiring was set ablaze, which posed some problems.
“Magnesium was on fire which makes it a bit of a challenge to put out because magnesium is actually reactive to water. Big chunks of molten metal actually come flying off of it when we hit it with water,” he told CityNews.
Summers says sand had to be used to put the fire out, which happened around 8 a.m. No injuries were reported.
He adds the RCMP has secured the area, and city staff will be on hand later in the day to help clean up.
With files from Sonia Aslam
