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Crews respond to fire at Wasa Transfer Station

RDEK staff, contractors and members of the BC Wildfire Service responded to a fire at the Wasa Transfer Station overnight on Monday, Oct. 7.
wasa-fire-gps
A fire began at the Wasa Transfer Station overnight on Monday, Oct. 7. RDEK/Cranbrook Townsman.

RDEK staff, contractors and members of the BC Wildfire Service responded to a fire at the Wasa Transfer Station overnight on Monday, Oct. 7.

“The fire fully involved several of the piles in our wood waste area,” said Jim Penson, RDEK Solid Waste Superintendent, in a news release. “The fire was contained to that area of origin and did not spread further on site.”

The BC Wildfire Service completed an assessment before leaving last night while an excavator and RDEK contractor remained on site throughout the night to manage the fire. They returned Tuesday, Oct. 8, to ensure it is fully extinguished.

While access to the wood pile will remains closed until the fire is fully out, the transfer station site itself is open and there is full access to the bins for the disposal of household garbage and recycling.

“We are grateful to our contractor, the equipment operator and the members of the BC Wildfire Service who responded to the call, and very grateful the fire remained isolated and did not spread beyond the wood waste pile,” said Penson.

The Wasa Transfer Station is one of three rural transfer stations in the RDEK that has a marshalling area for the collection of things such as clean wood waste, scrap metal, tires, etc.

The fire is the second blaze in the past few weeks at that site, according to the RDEK, with the last one impacting the metal pile.



Trevor Crawley

About the Author: Trevor Crawley

Trevor Crawley has been a reporter with the Cranbrook Townsman and Black Press in various roles since 2011.
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