THUNDER BAY — A spokesperson for the union that represents grainhandlers says he hopes to get more details about Sunday's fire at the Richardson grain terminal.
But United Steelworkers representative Herb Daniher says that, from what he has been told so far, the safety mechanisms and procedures put in place to mitigate the risk of injury and damage did what they were designed to do.
No one was injured, and the elevator was safely evacuated.
Firefighters arrived to find heavy black smoke and flames coming from the roof of the pellet plant.
Thunder Bay Fire Rescue reported there was "an explosion" and fire in a grain dust filtration system, but that a built-in explosion control system kept the fire and damage contained to the filtration equpment and some piping.
In a Monday evening statement to Tbnewswatch, Richardson Terminals described the incident only as "a minor fire" in a dust filter within the pellet plant, which is outside of the main workhouse.
The statement made no reference to an explosion.
Daniher said "Anytime there's a fire in any of the plants, of course it's always a problem. I wouldn't just dismiss it as a 'nothing,' but it's not to the same degree as what we might have seen with a critical elevator explosion."
He said the incident occurred in a segregated, specialized area of the terminal.
"Certainly this matter is being investigated and the circumstances that gave rise to it will be addressed. It's ongoing due diligence or vigilance with this type of environment," Daniher said.
Richardson's statement said it is working with authorities to investigate the cause of the fire.
After Thunder Bay Fire Rescue cleared the scene on Tuesday, the company said normal operations had resumed.
