After a week-long battle, a fire at the Fort Frances Landfill site has finally been extinguished thanks to a multi-organization community effort.
The fire began at the landfill site on Saturday, March 5 and burned through to Sunday, March 13, according to Fort Frances Fire Rescue Service chief Tyler Moffitt. While the majority of the time spent fighting the fire the weather was favourable, crews did have to deal with a few days of cold, windy weather, and the heat from the fire caused wet, soggy ground to form, which led to additional obstacles.
However, Moffitt noted that due to the different organizations and businesses that lent a hand or equipment to battle the blaze, the fire was brought under control far more quickly than average. Moffitt said that within 35 years of data, landfill fires of this size and depth have taken between 10 and 15 days to fully extinguish.
To accomplish this, the Fort Frances Fire Rescue Service received support from the Couchiching First Nation Fire Department, the A.C.E.L. (Alberton, Chapple, Emo, La Vallee) Fire and Emergency Services, Tom Veert Construction, Daryl’s Custom Landscapes and the Town of Fort Frances.
Among the equipment employed to fight the fire, according to Moffitt, were the Fort Frances Pumper Fire Truck, a portable pump and pond, three water tanker trucks, a 3,000-gallon porta tank and two other 1,000-gallon porta tanks from three fire services. Public Works employees provided grading, sanding and gravel services for the operation, and a 360-degree access road was created around the site of the fire. Tom Veert Construction utilized two excavators and a bulldozer.
The A.C.E.L. Fire and Emergency Services shared a Facebook post in which they said their 3,400-gallon tanker and 3,500-gallon porta-tank were also used during the operation.
“A huge shout out and thanks goes out to our Fort Frances Fire Rescue Service team members and our team members from Public Works, Couchiching First Nation Fire Department, A.C.E.L. Fire & Emergency Services, Tom Veert Contracting, and Daryl’s Custom Landscapes!” Moffitt wrote in a March 14 Facebook update.
