An investigation is underway to determine the cause of a massive fire on Mitchell Island.
The blaze at an auto wrecking yard last Thursday night rocked nearby homes with explosions and balls of fire widely reported by residents.
The fire broke out just before 8 p.m. with the majority of buildings within the yard at the AABC Recycling Group fully ablaze by the time firefighters arrived.
According to Richmond Fire-Rescue, firefighters had to deal with the possible collapse of a building, although there were no occupants inside.
This is the second time in 10 months that the auto yard has been the scene of a massive fire.
In January, large black plumes of smoke billowed from a pile of cars inside the property, along the 13000-block of Mitchell Road, east of the Knight Street Bridge.
Last week, local residents again flooded social media with pictures, videos and accounts of “tons of explosions” at the site of the fire.
There were 28 firefighters on the scene Thursday night, with many remaining at the site until Friday morning to make sure the flames didn’t start back up.
Tim Wilkinson, deputy chief of operations with Richmond Fire-Rescue, told the Richmond News on Friday morning that, although the fire was extinguished, they were still dealing with “minor spot fires…beneath a collapsed portion of the building.”
Wilkinson said the investigation into the cause of the fire would begin on Friday “when the area is deemed to be safe for that process.
By Monday, he said Richmond Fire-Rescue was still “actively investigating all causation factors” and were yet to make a final determination on the cause.
However, after a separate investigation by WorkSafeBC, a preliminary report by a WorkSafe inspector said the blaze began when a worker was moving a 1,000-litre tote of gasoline with an overhead crane.
“The tote became snagged, was punctured, and gasoline was released, resulting in a fire,” said the report.
Wilkinson added that environmental staff from the Canadian Coast Guard, the provincial government and the City of Richmond were “coordinating on containing any runoff that may pollute” the Fraser River.
This isn’t the only time a fire has broken out on Mitchell Island recently.
In June, a blaze erupted at a mattress recycling depot, at the very same facility where another fire broke out two years prior.
