Crews use helicopter to fight pig stack fire at Harmac factory in Cedar

Nanaimo Fire Rescue is urging people in the Cedar area to prepare for “considerable” smoke after a fire broke out in a pig pile, now believed to have been caused by humans, at the Harmac Mill on Saturday afternoon.

The British Columbia Wildfire Service (BCWS), in An update on Sundaysays the fire at the Wave Place mill is one hectare in size and is “being contained.”

Nanaimo Fire’s incident reporting website says firefighters were called to the blaze around 4:50 p.m. on July 13, when it was initially classified as burning “out of control,” prompting a large response.

“Our firefighters and their mutual aid partners are on a fire at Harmac Mill in Duke Point. There will be significant smoke in the area,” Nanaimo Fire wrote on social media.

The fire is within the jurisdiction of the Nanaimo Fire Department, according to the BCWS.

A fire information officer with the Coastal Fire Centre tells CHEK News that the BCWS deployed an initial attack team and a helicopter to assist with the Nanaimo fire, as well as North Cedar Fire Department crews.

The crews too Several fire trucks were used..

“We are also receiving support from (BC Wildfire) firefighters and a helicopter will be flying low in the area,” Nanaimo Fire wrote in the post at around 7:20 p.m.

It is believed that a pile of discarded wood or a pile of debris caught fire. CHEK News has reached out to Nanaimo Fire Rescue and the North Cedar Fire Department for more information.

“In the timber industry, companies primarily use pig fuel as biofuel to run machinery, produce heat used in the drying process, and to make pulp and paper,” according to online information.

The BCWS, in its latest update, says the fire is believed to be human-caused.

“Humans cause wildfires in a variety of ways, whether by accident or intentionally,” it says on its website.

Harmac Pacific operates the pulp mill, which is located on the east coast of Vancouver Island near Nanaimo. In 2018Several crews extinguished fires in piles of scrap metal at the facility.

READ ALSO: ‘I’m angry’: Teens shooting fireworks suspected of starting fire at Pipers Lagoon in Nanaimo

Our firefighters, along with their mutual aid partners, are on a fire at Harmac Mill in Duke Point. There will be a lot of smoke in the area. We are also receiving support from @BCGovFireInfo (BC Wildfire) Firefighters and a helicopter will be flying low over the area. @IAFF905 @cityofanaimo image.twitter.com/PEJRnLzDU5

— Nanaimo Fire Department (@NanaimoFire) July 14, 2024

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