Fire crews responded to a blaze at a Strathcona County petroleum plant shortly after 10 a.m. yesterday morning. The fire occurred at the Gibson Edmonton Terminal in a mostly empty crude-oil tank that was undergoing routine maintenance.
The fire was small but it produced considerable smoke, though fire officials confirmed that the smoke posed no hazard to the public in the area.
“Tank fires can be much worse than this one,” reported Ken Jones, deputy chief of Strathcona County Emergency Services. “On our arrival, all staff were already safe and uninjured.”
RCMP were also called to the scene to divert traffic around 17th Street, which was temporarily shut down in the west end of Sherwood Park.
The Gibson plant shut down for precautionary reasons, though it was back in operation not long after fire crews left the scene at 12:45 p.m.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
