Dow sourcing new bale grinder after fire consumes machinery

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This article was published 30/04/2010 (5677 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dow Chemical’s plans to grind away thousands of straw bales sitting in a field in Elie were interrupted when they caught on fire Wednesday, but the company will get back to the job as quickly as possible.

Company spokeswoman Shawna Bruce said the fire destroyed the remote-controlled horizontal grinder that the RCMP said caused the fire, adding Dow will get a new grinder into the fields as soon as one is available.

"We’re not certain at this time when we’ll have new equipment in place but we’re working with our equipment representative to determine availability of a new grinder," Bruce, public affairs manager for Dow Chemical Canada ULC, said.

The chief of the Cartier fire department said 400 bales were destroyed in the fire, slightly more than the number the Dow grinder turns into compost every day.

The fire began at about 11 a.m. Wednesday. Dow staff were operating the horizontal grinder when the fire started.

RCMP said the fire was caused by a fuel leak from one of the grinder’s hydraulic lines. The fuel spattered onto a hot exhaust manifold, which ignited and set the straw ablaze.

Dow personal tried to put the fire out, but it quickly spread due to wind and dry conditions.

Bruce said staff tried to manoeuvre the grinder out of the way but it got caught up in the burning bales.

Volunteer fire departments from several nearby communities tackled the fire and brought it under control by mid-afternoon Wednesday.

Bruce said the firefighters worked through the night, digging a trench in the field and pushing the burning bales into it. She said that worked and the fire was out by Thursday morning.

"As of (Thursday) morning there is no more burning material," Bruce said. "There is no smoke and there is no flame."

Bruce said local firefighters were sent home Thursday morning, adding that a team of Dow firefighters, who flew in Wednesday night, will continue to monitor the field.

The straw bales have been an irritation for area residents since Dow closed its particle board plant in 2005. In addition to being an eyesore, residents said the bales, which were to be used to make particle board, were contaminating the soil and attracting rats.

The densely-packed bales have also been a fire hazard. They burned for two months in the winter of 2009 after being set ablaze by arsonists.

Bruce said the province approved Dow’s plan to grind the straw into compost, which is being given away to area farmers and plowed into nearby fields that Dow owns but has leased to area farmers.

Bruce said about 40 per cent of the bales have been ground into compost and the rest should be eliminated by the end of the year.

"Now we have to do the cleanup (after the fire) and get the replacement equipment," Bruce said.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

BY THE NUMBERS:

 

150,000 -- the number of straw bales sitting on a field in Elie alongside the Trans-Canada Highway in 2005.

Spring 2009 -- the start of a cleanup program to grind the bales into compost to be given to area farmers.

85,000 -- the number of straw bales remaining on the field.

350 -- the number of bales ground into compost every day by a remote-controlled grinder.

December 2010 -- when the last straw bale is scheduled to be ground into compost.