Victoria Fire Department crews kept a fire at a plant filled with cardboard to be recycled from spreading Tuesday afternoon.
Firefighters responded to a structure fire call at Cascades Recovery in the 2800 block of Bridge St., next to the City of Victoria public works yard, just before 1 p.m. and found the fire in a conveyor belt system. The building’s sprinkler system had deployed and was keeping the blaze from spreading, said Mark Robertson, VFD Battalion Chief.
Crews made their way in, found the seat of the fire and extinguished it quickly with two-inch hoses, he added.
All occupants of the building were out and safe when fire crews arrived, Robertson said.
With the cause of the fire still under investigation, Robertson was reluctant to say whether it appeared to be mechanical failure or something else.
“You never know what you’re dealing with when you’re at a recycling plant, you don’t know what is coming and going in those cardboard boxes,” he said.
In all, 18 crew on three engine trucks, a rescue truck, a ladder truck and a battalion vehicle responded to the call. Oak Bay and Saanich were on standby in case the fire grew larger. No damage estimate was immediately available.
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