Vancouver: Operations resumed by Friday at most of the Port Metro Vancouver facilities that had been shut down by Wednesday’s chemical fire. An inquiry into the causes of the blaze, which lasted 24 hours after beginning in a container in the Centerm terminal, was under way.
However, Centerm, one of four terminals at Canada’s biggest port, was still closed and a 100-metre exclusion zone was in effect around the source container. The container, from China, contained trichloroisocyanauric acid, an industrial disinfectant, which sent a plume of white smoke over the city.
Centerm is owned by Dubai-based DP World, whose emergency response team was working with authorities to investigate and determine the fire’s cause.
Port Metro Vancouver spokesman Peter Xotta said: “We have an environmental contractor and a salvage contractor on site assisting the fire department with the situation.”
Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed that 13 people had been treated and released at hospitals for eye and respiratory complaints.
