Fire investigators are today beginning to comb through the debris left after a devastating Canada Day fire at a Blackfalds oilfield trucking firm.
Blackfalds Fire Chief Robert Cote said about a dozen investigators, himself included, will begin the job of piecing together what happened before the 6:30 p.m. fire rippled through a Formula Powell LP yard in an industrial park on the west of Blackfalds.
Investigators from companies that manufacture the oilfield chemicals that fed the massive blaze and insurance companies will also be on site.
“We are actually going through the debris at the point of origin of the fire to try to find a cause,” said Cote.
Investigators had to wait until the environmental cleanup was completed at Formula Powell before it was safe to examine the site closely.
Spilled chemicals had to be collected and taken away and the yard re-gravelled so trucks and individuals did not have to track through mud.
The fire started outside a warehouse that was left a tangled mass of sheet metal after the fire, which took around 80 firefighters from a number of Central Alberta departments hours to contain. Chemicals were stored inside the warehouse and outside in the yard.
No one was injured in the fire, including three workers who were on the job at the time.
A Formula Powell representative, who would not give his name, declined to comment on Thursday, citing the ongoing investigation.