High winds hamper efforts to douse Taber industrial fire

Strong winds hampered firefighters' efforts to bring a large fire in Taber, Alta.under control over the weekend.

High winds kicked flames up once again after the fire had been brought under control Saturday evening, resulting in a large plume of smoke on Sunday.

"Luckily, it went eastward because of the wind, so it was blown into our industrial area," said Meghan Brennan, a spokesperson for the town.

• Emergency Operations Centre enacted in Taber following industrial fire

Crews battled the flames, which apparently started in a building occupied by Flexible Solutions, for several hours as they spread to a nearby building.

Flexible Solutions is described on its website as an "environmental technology company involved in research, development and manufacturing of products that increase crop yield, improve oil and gas operations, reduce the environmental footprint in cleaning and water treatment, save water and save energy."

There were concerns chemicals present could be hazardous, but testing done Sunday morning showed air quality levels were safe.

"That was a concern of course, but that has been dealt with,"Brennan said. "They've been doing testing [Sunday] morning and there's absolutely zero harm to the public or anything for anybody to worry about."

The fire was reported about 2:45 p.m. in an industrial area of the town, about 60 kilometres east of Lethbridge.

The town enacted its Emergency Operations Centre, which Brennan said was done mainly as a precaution.

One person suffered minor burns.

"The fireis fully contained but crews are extinguishing hotspots,"Brennan said.

"As they move the materials, pockets of fire might pop up, so they have to ensure those are put out."

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