Press Release
The Fort Frances Fire and Rescue Service has been working with personnel at the Resolute mill for the past few months related to fire safety issues at the Fort Frances site.
There was a high level of optimism that the sale of the mill was imminent and that many of the safety issues would be resolved by the sale of the site to a new owner.
With the failure of that sale, and all indications from Resolute being that the mill may not be heated in a manner that protects the fire protection system, the Fort Frances Fire Rescue Service has formalized the process by serving a number of orders on the mill manager.
This service establishes the performance expectation for site services and fire protection equipment, ensuring public safety concerns are addressed.
The limitation of the fire chief is to write the orders in a manner that requires Resolute Forest Products to follow the prescriptive portion of the Ontario Fire Code.
Resolute then will have the option of appealing the process as allowed by the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, or applying for relief under Division ‘A’ of the code.
This relief allows for the proposal of an alternative solution that can be developed by an engineer or architect licensed in the province of Ontario.
The fire chief, under Division ‘C’ of the Ontario Fire Code, can approve the alternative solution if supported by documentation and sound fire protection engineering principles.
“The interest of public safety is our primary concern,” said Fort Frances Fire Chief Frank Sheppard.
“And I am optimistic that Resolute Forest will co-operate in ensuring that the safety of the residents of Fort Frances, the mill workers on site, and critical infrastructure in the community will all be priorities,” he added.
Resolute Forest Products confirmed it is aware of Chief Sheppard’s concerns.
“We did receive the fire chief’s orders last week, and so we are now looking into it and we are analyzing the situation,” Nathalie Guilbault, Resolute corporate communications consultant, said Monday morning.
