The Burnaby Fire Department was “inundated” with calls about a fire in North Burnaby that turned out to be a “controlled burn” at the Parkland Refinery last night, according to assistant fire Chief Dave Younger.
“We sent trucks all over because people gave us reports that were from all over,” he told the NOW. “We had people on the back of SFU looking for a bush fire; we had people all over the place. It came in as a building fire and then as a bush fire, and then they made it a second alarm because they were getting so many calls.”
It turned out the refinery, located off Penzance Drive on the Burrard Inlet, was flaring excess fuel from its stack, according to Younger.
“The sky was just red from this fire, but it was all the clouds that were making it reflect, so it gave the illusion of quite a bit more than what it was – although (responding firefighters) said the flare was quite large,” he said.
Younger, who’s been with the fire department for decades, said large burns at the refinery are “very random.”
“Our guys this morning were telling me that it was quite impressive,” he said. “It looked like an actual fire. Of course, they got over there and realized it wasn’t but they still had to be thorough and check the back of Burnaby Mountain and check all these places. From North Van, looking across the inlet, where they judge that it’s burning is always incorrect.”
A lot of sirens 🚨 heard near the Parkland refinery in Burnaby.
— Aaron Keogh (@aaronmskeogh) August 27, 2021
Flame 🔥 on Parkland refinery lighting💡the night sky.
What's going on?
Please let us know @NEWS1130 .
👀🎥⬇️ pic.twitter.com/WTbvJJEers
One local resident who wasn’t impressed was Peter Cech, a school board trustee who lives near the refinery.
“Anyone who says Parkland Gas is a good neighbour doesn’t live next door to them,” he said in a post on Twitter.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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