At least one business in Calgary’s Ogden industrial area is raising an alarm bell after a fire at a neighbouring propane recycling plant on Tuesday afternoon.
Fire crews were called to the scene sometime after 12:30 p.m. in a metal shredding machine at Calgary Metal Recycling. Surveillance video from the nearby Electronic Recycling Association (ERA) shows smoke and flames shooting high into the air.
Tuesday’s fire wasn’t the first at Calgary Metal Recycling, according to employees at the ERA. Even more frightening, the business also said there have been multiple explosions at the plant.
Those explosions have employees concerned for their health and safety.
“We’ve had times where the explosion is so powerful it lifted our roof and you could see light at the top structure of our roof when we looked through,” ERA employee Jeff Stacey said.
“They just run that machine, constant, constant, constant. There will be days when one or two propane tanks go off it doesn’t phase them.”
Employees told Global News at least one explosion happens at the recycling plant each week, sending smoke, debris and pieces of metal in their direction.
Despite reaching out to the city and the province, ERA said nothing has been done.
The Calgary Fire Department (CFD) is investigating Tuesday’s fire.
CFD spokesperson Carol Henke said the fire department has been called to Calgary Metal Recycling 12 times in 2017.
“The fire investigator will hopefully determine what the exact cause was and then we can move forward with the education piece or whatever else comes after that,” Henke said.
Global News requests for comment from Calgary Metal Recycling were not returned.