A blaze which at its peak reached 20 toes within the air had St. Thomas firefighters busy on Thursday.
St. Thomas Hearth Chief Dave Gregory remarked that the fireplace would probably be “a full day occasion” – with the scale of the fireplace demanding their continued consideration.
Hearth Prevention Officer Chief Kim Destun mentioned that first responders had been initially referred to as to the huge hearth on CN Rail property within the north finish of the town round midday, “We’re holding it cool, placing water on it and foam. Now we have waterworks right here to to help us and tear aside the pile and expedite that work.”
The fireplace introduced out beginner photographers who, once they noticed the smoke, headed to the location to take photographs and submit on social media.
St. Thomas Hearth Division was advising these within the space to not solely keep away, however stay indoors.
Destun mentioned that the supplies set on hearth posed a threat to residents, “We’re advising residents on the south facet of the tracks to shut their home windows and doorways and keep inside as a result of [those] railroad ties are filled with creosote and it is some fairly heavy black smoke.”
Firefighters battle a railroad tie hearth in St. Thomas, Thursday, October 10, 2024 (Supply: St. Thomas Hearth Division)
A couple of hours after it began, firefighters had knocked down many of the hearth and had been simply battling flare ups and the smoke.
Paramedics had been on standby to help any firefighters in want of support.
Gregory mentioned that though lots of the metropolis’s firefighters had been serving to to battle the blaze, the town maintained the power to reply to different incidents if wanted, “So we’ve sufficient crews right here to cowl the town within the occasion of one other emergency. After which we will name in further guys to ensure these guys are switched out.”
Not solely had been extra our bodies essential to assist in the occasion of extra emergencies, however as a result of lengthy hours wanted to completely extinguish the blaze, extra firefighters might be rotated in.
“They get some rehab, get some meals and water into, relaxation up, and we’ll swap off, as a result of – this is only one of those ones… We might be right here all day,” mentioned Gregory.
