BONNYVILLE – Tuesday morning the remnants of a fire that destroyed Esso gas pumps and its overhead awning on Bonnyville’s west end could be seen taped off and sitting unassumingly.
Hours earlier, the scene was a frenzy of activity as firefighters from Station 5 Bonnyville worked to contain a fire that was engulfing the station's gas bar. Crews managed to prevent the fire from spreading to the gas station's main building.
At 11:55 p.m., Station 5 responded to a report that a garbage can caught fire between the pumps of the Esso gas station located on the corner of 58 Street and 51 Avenue, confirmed Dan Heney, the regional fire chief for the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA).
“The station was closed at the time so crews had no information on what may have started the fire,” Heney told LakelandToday. “The fire spread quickly to the pumps and the awning over top of the pump area.”
The scene was contained, and crews were back in service by around 3:30 a.m. this morning.
“After a preliminary investigation, the fire is not being considered suspicious and appears it may have been a failure of heat tracing used on downspouts from the awning,” explained the regional fire chief.
Risks to firefighters
Heney acknowledged that while fires like the ones crews responded to late Monday night and into the early hours of Tuesday morning do have inherent risks, “safety features built into the pumps and due to the service station being closed minimized the risk of a large gasoline fire being caused.”
If the situation had been more extreme, he said, “Crews would have been ready to deliver firefighting foam if a significant amount of burning fuel had been present during the event.”
The regional fire chief added, “BRFA crews, especially Station 5 members, have advanced training in handling fires involving flammable or combustible liquids.”
