The waterfront in downtown Port Moody was covered in a smokey haze Sunday evening after a conveyor belt caught fire at Pacific Coast Terminals.
It took about three hours to fully douse the smouldering fire at the industrial site located in the 2300 block of Columbia Street.
A ladder truck had to be called in to be able to reach the machinery located near the loading dock.
“It was a difficult fire to fight because of the access to the conveyor belt,” said Port Moody Fire Chief Darcey O’Riordan.
As many as 11 firefighters from the city’s two halls attended the fire, which was called in at about 5 p.m. that evening.
Although the fire was kept to the equipment, it was a difficult blaze to put out because of its location on the property.
“We had to bring in the ladder towers to be able to direct the water streams.”
A foreman from Pacific Coast Terminals were also on hand assisting the firefighters in the best way to tackle the blaze, O’Riordan said.
“He gave us the intel we.needed to extinguish the fire.”
Pacific Coast Terminals announced on its website that the fire started shortly after 5 p.m. near the ship loader on a conveyor.
“Port Moody Fire Rescue responded quickly and no one was hurt in the incident. The fire has since been put out and the cause is currently being determined,” the PCT website states.
In a Tweet, PMPD Chief O’Riordan complimented crews who put out the industrial fire.
“Solid incident command and hardworking by @iaff2399 firefighters extinguished the blaze,” the Tweet stated.
A witness on the scene in the 2300 block of Columbia Street in PoMo said the fire appeared to be near a docked freighter and crews could be seen using multiple hoses and a ladder truck to extinguish the fire.
For a video of the fire, visit here.
