The Quesnel Volunteer Fire Department was called out to a fire in the Two Mile Flat area on Saturday.
Fire Chief Sylvain Gauthier explains…
“Saturday evening at about quarter after nine, Quesnel Fire Department was dispatched to a structure fire on Commons Road which was the Tolko planer. The security guard driving by saw smoke coming out of the building and called 9-1-1.”
Gauthier says upon arrival they could see heavy smoke on the east side of the building…
“The sprinkler system had been activated and as the team entered the building the fire was mainly contained the old planer, and the shop right beside the planer. It is a vacant building. All the equipment, talking to Tolko representatives, has been sold and contractors had been working at the Tolko mill to remove, but nothing has been done in that part of the mill for a while.”
The Tolko mill shut down in May of last year.
Gauthier says there was some damage to electrical equipment and the inside walls, but he says in the big picture it was still minimal thanks to the activation of the sprinkler system.
He says there were no injuries and they do have an idea on the cause…
“The cause right now is still under investigation but we’re leaning toward an electrical outlet that either short circuited or something happened. It is not suspicious.”
Gauthier says they responded with 17 members and three engines, and he says they were on scene for just over three hours.
That was part of a busy weekend for fire fighters in Quesnel.
Gauthier says they also responded to a call for smoke coming out of an apartment building…
“Sunday evening Quesnel Fire Department was called to Aspen Heights on Abbott Drive for smoke inside the building. Upon arrival we could see smoke coming out of one of the apartments on the third floor. Upon investigation it was determined the smoke was coming in from the stove where someone had left a pot unattended on the stove, and it created smoke inside the apartment and the hallway on the third floor.”
Gauthier says there was no damage.
He says that call came in at around 9 o’clock.
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