By Sheldon Spackman

Fire guts business in Blindman Industrial Park

Mar 2, 2018 | 11:16 AM

Investigators are looking into the cause but have contained an industrial fire at a business in the Blindman Industrial Park Friday morning.

It started around 7:50 a.m. when crews from Red Deer County were called to CEDA Resources, an industrial services provider located north of Red Deer along Henry Street.

Firefighters from Blackfalds and the City of Red Deer were also called in to assist with the blaze.  

Ric Henderson, Director of Emergency Management with Red Deer County says crews found the numerous bays of the business in flames when they arrived.

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“All the occupants and workers were evacuated at the time of the fire,” says Henderson. However he is unsure at this time exactly how many that was.

In terms of injuries, he says there were none for any of the occupants inside.

“We’ve had a couple minor things happen with some of our firefighters and we’re looking after that,” he adds.

Henderson points out however that neighbouring business were asked to evacuate out of the smoke.

“The building contains a lot of chemicals, so we’re not sure what’s burning,”

According to Henderson, cold temperatures, the amount of smoke and the unkown chemicals inside the building were all special challenges firefighters are dealing with at the scene.

He says it’s unclear at this point how long they will be on scene for, exactly which part of the building the fire started, its cause or what the damage estimate will be.

Officials with CEDA Resources issued a statement saying emergency protocols were immediately activated with all personnel evacuated safely from the area.

“The cause of the fire is not yet known and no estimate of damage is available at this time,” said Trish Kloberdanz, Corporate Communications Manager. “We are making arrangements to ensure our employees are able to return to work by utilizing CEDA’s other regional office within Red Deer. No significant interruptions to our services is anticipated.”

“We are happy to report that there were no injuries within our workforce, and we would like to recognize the Red Deer County, City of Red Deer and the Blackfalds Fire Rescue for their quick response and diligence in containing the fire,” added Kloberdanz.

Red Deer County officials say locals in the area have since been able to return to the area.

Further details and updates will be provided once they become available.