Trucking depot burns near Blackfalds

A fire at a trucking yard west of Blackfalds, Alta., burned for over four hours before it could be contained.

The massive blaze kicked thick plumes of inky black smoke high into the air, and set off multiple loud explosions inside the Formula Powell site, which stores semi trucks, oilfield equipment and chemicals used in drilling.

The fire started at around 6:30 p.m., said Jim Cornell, who lives near the industrial yard. His eight-year-old daughter was playing at a school playground near the Formula Powell site when the fire started. The girls flagged down a passing motorist, who phoned police, he said.

Over 20 explosions rocked the area, Cornell said, each so powerful it felt like a shotgun blast going off beside his chest. He said the heat of the fire could be felt where he was standing about half a kilometre from the site.

He said when emergency crews initially arrived, the fire was burning so ferociously they weren’t able to approach it.

“At the start they just cordoned it all off and they couldn’t get close enough because of explosions and all that,” he said. “The explosion would hit and fire would go hundred metres in the air.”

Cornell said the site is filled with chemicals used to make drilling mud, and said the area that’s on fire had numerous 45-gallon drums full of chemicals.

Officials from Environment Canada were on scene monitoring the air quality, however, no evacuation order was issued.

A drive-by caller said the area smelled like burning petroleum, and the pillar of smoke wa visible 14 kilometres away in Red Deer.

Firefighters had the blaze under control by 10:45 p.m. and the fire was out by around 11:30 p.m.