Forest No Place for Fire Hazard

A fire was believed to have started in the refuse storage area at BFI Canada in Springwater in May 2013. -Barrie Examiner photo

From Friends of Simcoe Forests

Simcoe County’s plan to place an Environmental Resource Recovery Centre in a forest within Springwater Township raises serious safety concerns, according to The Friends of Simcoe Forests. The recently announced relocation of the centre places residents even closer to this “high hazard” building.

An Environmental Resource Recovery Centre is considered a Group F, Division 1 High Hazard Industrial Occupancy building. It is “an industrial occupancy containing sufficient quantities of highly combustible and flammable or explosive materials to constitute a special fire hazard because of their inherent characteristics”. This is the highest level of hazard indicated in the Ontario Building Code Act.

“The Friends have concerns that the County’s protective services are not sufficiently prepared to meet this threat, and will require extra resources that are not considered in the current plan,” said Mary Wagner of Friends of Simcoe Forests. “The County continues to alter their plans for the site and reduce setbacks, moving the proposed building closer to the homes of local residents.”

Link to Firefighting in Canada report

Fires at waste management facilities are not uncommon. On October 27, there was a fire at the Wasteco Plant in Hamilton. This is a recycling facility similar in nature to the one proposed for Simcoe County. This same facility had another fire in April of this year. This location has had six fires in the last eight years.

Nor is it a problem isolated to that particular facility. Another waste facility in Edmonton, which had been touted as a “Centre of Excellence”, caught fire in August and prompted an air quality advisory for local residents. Six fire departments had to be called to fight a blaze at the BFI recycling plant here in Springwater Township three years ago.

A fire at a waste recycling facility in Cambridge last October caused millions of dollars of damage. There was a massive fire at an Ajax garbage waste disposal building last month. Three recycling centers in the United States caught fire on the same day last month – in Seattle, Indiana, and California.

“This is a major reason other municipalities place these facilities away from the residential neighbourhoods they serve,” said Stacey Irwin. “Every other municipality we have found builds their recycling facilities on industrial land and not in the middle of flammable forests.”

By choosing to build this facility among the trees of the Freele Forest, County Council is taking an enormous risk. Fire is a known hazard of recycling facilities – even resting piles of composting organic material can self-combust. This facility endangers the safety and security of homeowners, and is a significant insurance risk for the municipality.