UPDATE: On Wednesday, at around 3:30 p.m., the City of Red Deer tweeted that residents of O’Brien Crescent and O’Neil Close could return home but that smoky conditions were expected throughout the night. An hour later, the city tweeted that a shelter in place order was lifted for Oriole Park and Oriole Park West but that “residents may still choose to limit exposure to smoke.”
Firefighters were called to an industrial blaze in the central Alberta city of Red Deer Wednesday morning, which prompted the evacuation of nearby homes.
About 30 firefighters were called to the Red Deer IronWorks Inc. building at 6430 Golden West Ave., after a fire broke out around 10:45 a.m.
A witness said black plumes of smoke could be seen from far away and flames were seen shooting from the building’s roof.
Crews initially tried to enter the building to fight the fire, but were pushed back due to the large amount of smoke, Tyler Pelke with Red Deer Emergency Services said. The battle then became a defensive attack, he said.
Pelke said the fire was declared under control at around noon Wednesday.
As of 11:45 a.m., Golden West Avenue was closed south of 67 Street. Residents on O’Brien Crescent and O’Neil Close were evacuated, the city said. Pelke said about 50-75 homes were evacuated. Residents were expected to be let back into their homes later Wednesday afternoon.
There were no reported injuries and the fire was contained to the commercial building, Pelke said.
RDI has facilities in Alberta, B.C., Colorado, North Dakota and Indiana, with its main facility located in Red Deer.
The company’s website says it offers valves, flowlines, manifolds and recertification services to gas, oil and production centres in North America and worldwide.
The city asked people to avoid the area around the fire.
Watch below: A large industrial fire broke out in the central Alberta city of Red Deer Wednesday morning, prompting the evacuation of some nearby homes.
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