Greater Sudbury Fire Service credits Glencore staff for helping ensure a small fire at its Falconbridge smelter didn’t get out of hand.
Acting Deputy Fire Chief Jesse Oshell said the fire started after slag overflowed. Glencore staff were able to keep the liquid from spreading, but the superheated material did come in contact with a rubberized door, which caught fire.
The door fire burned itself out, but the flames did travel up the door to some electrical wires above, and from there it spread into the wall above the door.
The fire service brought in a ladder from the downtown station to access the wall, part of which had to be pulled open from the front and back to extinguish the fire in the wall above the door, and keep the fire from spreading through the building.
The situation was under control by 7 p.m. or so.
Glencore spokesperson Iyo Grenon said no staff were injured during the incident. As per standard procedure in instances like this, the community alarms were activated, indicating to nearby residents that, as a precaution, they should go indoors and close all windows and air intakes.
Grenon said Glencore is investigating “the root cause of the fire.”
