Sheryl McGraw was walking through the Heights neighbourhood when she smelled a strong chemical scent on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
“I was out and about, doing errands,” she told the NOW. “And you know what? You could smell it right away. At that point, I didn’t even know about the fire.”
McGraw was referring to the four-alarm fire at the Port Metro Vancouver Centerm Container Terminal that started around 1 p.m. on March 4.
The burning container had a hazardous organic compound inside, according to Vancouver Coastal Health – 20,000 kilograms of trichloroisocyanuric acid, which can irritate the skin, eyes and respiratory system.
McGraw went home and checked online to find out what was going on, which is when she found out about the fire.
“It was just a surprise,” she said. “We weren’t really sure what was happening.”
While she was out, McGraw said she saw elderly people walking in the Heights, as well as families with strollers, which concerned her.
“They should’ve been told to go indoors,” she said. “They need a better system to notify people. There should’ve been a larger catchment area.”
There were reports of smoke wafting into the city and a chemical smell by other people tweeting from Burnaby yesterday afternoon, as well.
The City of Burnaby was informed about the fire at 3:50 p.m., according to deputy city manager Lambert Chu.
“Having learned the seriousness of the situation, we activated the Emergency Operation Centre,” Chu said.
The centre had about 25 people on hand, including communications staff, and was located at Burnaby’s RCMP headquarters, he said.
Staff in Burnaby monitored air quality levels, and found the particulate levels peaked at 4 p.m., at 70 ppm (particulates per million), according to Chu, whereas they are typically between 10 and 25 ppm in Burnaby. But he added traffic, as well as smoke from the fire, may have affected the levels.
The city posted information on its webpage at 5 p.m. and sent out a tweet from its Twitter account at 5:11 p.m. with information on the fire.
“Vancouver Coastal Health recommends that if you are in an area in which you can smell or see smoke, that you should cover your mouth and nose with a wet cloth,” stated the message on the city’s website. “If you are in a building, you should keep the windows closed.”
Burnaby was in contact with the Fraser Health Authority, according to Chu.
“No information was passed onto us to step into a higher level of response,” he said.
At 6:10 p.m., Burnaby took part in a conference call with Vancouver’s emergency centre, and the “all clear” was given, Chu said. City staff then tweeted and updated the city’s website with the information.
The fire has since been contained.
“To the best of our knowledge, there weren’t any serious health issues in Burnaby,” he said, when asked how much of Burnaby was affected by the incident.
If the incident had been a more serious threat to Burnaby, he added, parts of the city could have gone into evacuation mode, and the fire department would have provided assistance.
Vancouver issued a shelter-in-place order for the neighbourhood surrounding the port. The order was lifted at 6 p.m.
Chu said he didn’t know of any similar incidences involving both Vancouver and Burnaby emergency centres.
Two people went to Burnaby Hospital, saying they weren’t feeling well after being exposed to the smoke, according to Tasleem Juma, spokesperson for Fraser Health.
“Both were discharged right away as there were no concerns for their health or well-being,” she wrote in an email to the NOW.
