WESTLOCK – Two, 5.01-tonne semi-truck tanks filled with crude oil were severely damaged following an early-morning fire last Saturday roughly 25 kilometres north of Westlock.
Westlock County manager of protective services John Biro said county fire crews responded at 3:30 a.m., May 13, to the scene of the tanker fire on Highway 44 north of the Dapp Corner Store. The fuel tanks being hauled were loaded with crude oil, while the blaze originated within one of the unit’s three centre axles — Biro noted that tire/axle fires can be caused by “friction anomalies” like flat or improperly-inflated tires or issues with the brakes or bearings.
Ultimately, Biro said “no content was lost” while a second tanker was brought in to transfer the product and the burnt trailer was removed. The highway was closed for “some length of time” and anyone in the “immediate hot zone was evacuated as a safety precaution.”
“Our concern was to secure and evacuate those in the immediate area, establish fire control to minimize it and the heat spreading to the petroleum product,” said Biro.
There were no injuries and crews were able to contain the blaze by establishing “high-flow water streams to cool the tanks” and to “extinguish the stubborn tire fire that had spread into the ditch.”
Biro said petroleum fires take “an enormous amount of water and foam to control” not including the environmental impact, public displacement, and disruption. For this fire, Biro said site clean up consisted of removing the remaining tire materials and melted aluminum.
