News Releases

After 26 hours of operations crews are making great headway on the fire at Shercom Industries to the point of knocking down spot fires.

"This was and continues to be a very difficult fire," says Assistant Chief Dave Bykowy. "So far it's taken in excess of 140 fire, environmental, medical, police and provincial fire professionals working as a team to bring the flames to the point of spot fire extinguishment."

The current primary priority is to address a stubborn concealed fire located among the 80 barrels of polyurethane. One of the key fire attack priorities of firefighters is to keep the barrels intact which many appear to be.

"After completing our fourth operational period today and the fourth rotation of personnel this would be a significant environmental victory," Bykowy says.

Tactics are currently underway to cut access holes in the adjacent wall to attack the fire from the rear.

Additionally, the third building containing the offices and certain manufacturing processes has been saved. Crews entered the building to conduct their primary and secondary searches as well as the retrieval of key computer equipment critical to Shercom operations; the last of the computers planned to be retrieved in the morning.

"Fire was cut off just in time in this building with significant high level heat damage to the manufacturing plant," Bykowy says. "The offices sustained heavy smoke damage but otherwise are completely intact."

Crews will continue to expose and extinguish spot fires through the night and re-assess in the morning.

The smoke plume generated by this fire has decreased markedly as the bulk of the fire has been extinguished.

Crews continue to battle the fire at Shercom Industries in the North Corman Industrial Park. During the night the fire moved to the second building of the three building complex.

“Crews are working to hold the fire from further extension and are trying to save the third building which houses the main office of the business,” says Assistant Chief Dave Bykowy.

Later today, the Fire Department will be deploying several foam streams in a concerted effort to knock the fire out in the second building and protect the remaining office building.  “If the fire darkens down, a track hoe will be used to gain better access to the existing fire. This will provide firefighters access to the floor allowing them to focus their firefighting efforts on hot spots,” Bykowy says.

The Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment is on scene and involved Envirotec to provide air quality monitoring through the night. The Ministry of Environment is conducting smoke plume modelling and particulate analysis to determine if the smoke presents a risk.

“Wind direction is forecast to be from the east northeast and to increase in intensity throughout the day,” Bykowy says. “Currently the wind is pushing the plume between the cities of Saskatoon and Martensville and is dispersing the concentration of the smoke. The risk remains minimal at this time.”

Earlier this morning the Incident Management Group met in the onsite mobile command post to re-evaluate and develop new strategies. This meeting included the Ministry of Environment and Provincial Emergency Management and Fire Safety.

The fire has destroyed buildings one and two. Our efforts are focused on getting the fire out and saving building three.

More details will follow as they are available.

The Saskatoon Fire Department, with the support of Warman Fire Rescue and the Martensville Fire Department, continue to battle a large fire at Shercom Industries north of Saskatoon in North Corman Park.

The fire originated in the east of three interconnected buildings.  It is used primarily as a warehouse for the storage of process materials, as well as a number of vehicles.  Fire Command believes the fire may have breached the separation wall and spread to the second building where a one day supply (approximately 20,000 lbs) of shredded rubber, 80 – 208-litre barrels of poly urethane and large quantities of finished products are housed.

Due to the nature of materials stored in the buildings, the toxicity of smoke is a serious concern.  Fortunately, the plume is travelling in a direction that does not impact any populated areas.  Saskatoon Fire will continue to monitor the situation through the night.

The Saskatoon Fire Department recognized that water conservation is extremely important in these types of incidents to minimize environmental impact; at this time all contaminated fire flow runoff is contained to the site.

Fires which are fueled by rubber are unusually difficult to extinguish, crews are prepared for a long duration incident.

The Saskatoon Fire Department responded to a structure fire at 7:02 pm in North Corman Park. Dispatchers recieved numerous calls of heavy smoke and flame coming from the building.

Three engine companies, two water tankers, and a brush truck responded to the scene within eight minutes. Initial crews found a structure fully involved with flame spreading to large piles of shredded tires. Firefighters on scene utilized foam application to assist with containment and extinguishment of the shredded tires.

After an initial size up, further apparatus were activated and dispatched to the scene. A Foam Truck, Rehabiltiation Unit, Command Vehicle, and extra support vehicles will assist with resource management. Warman Fire and Martensville Fire are working with the Saskatoon Fire Department to mitigate the incident.

The natural gas has been shuff off to the building and currently the fire is contained and has not spread to other buildings.

Media update will follow at 10:30 pm.

Spring is finally here, and with that, the City of Saskatoon’s winter road maintenance season is coming to a close. Crews worked 24/7 sanding, salting, grading, plowing and removing snow and ice from streets to keep drivers moving. Crews will continue to respond if a snow or ice event occurs in the coming weeks.

“With the favourable weather, we are now shifting our focus to the annual Sweeping and Pothole Repair Programs,” says Jeff Jorgenson, General Manager of Transportation & Utilities. “The Spring Sweeping Blitz is already underway and is designed to collect the bulk of the debris left behind over winter, which in turn increases efficiency and cost effectiveness of the City Wide Neighbourhood Sweeping program.”

The Blitz will also remove sand and debris from medians where snow was stored. Sweepers will go around parked vehicles during the Blitz program; parking enforcement will not be applied.

If weather cooperates, city- wide sweeping is expected to start May 1. During the city-wide program, parking enforcement will be applied in order to allow for a full curb-to-curb sweep. The now familiar bright yellow “No Parking” signs will be used to notify residents and visitors of sweeping dates for each neighbourhood.

“With more typical spring conditions, we want to get out there and clean things up as quickly as possible,” Jorgenson says. “Less sand and debris on city streets and improved methods of reporting and managing potholes are just a few of our priorities for 2016.”

The Spring Pothole Blitz begins April 11 when hot mix asphalt is available, with the focus on many of the same high-traffic streets as the Spring Street Sweeping Blitz.

Pothole repairs are prioritized based on their size, depth, location within the roadway (driving lane, curb lane, etc.), and the traffic volume on that street. Potholes that cause concern in the driving lanes of high traffic streets will be repaired first.

Residents are encouraged to report potholes with the Report-a-Pothole interactive map on our website, beginning Monday, April 4.

Report-a-Pothole interactive map

• There are now three classifications of potholes to select from: low, medium, and high priority. High Priority (red) potholes locations are repaired first, followed by Medium Priority (yellow) locations. For program and crew efficiency, Low Priority (grey) locations will be repaired following the neighbourhood street sweeping in May and June.
• A construction projects map layer shows if construction is happening or about to. Paving will occur after construction is completed. Pothole repairs will be coordinated and prioritized with other construction activities to maximize crew efficiency and cost savings. 
• The application requires contact information in order to report a location, which allows inspectors to contact residents directly to confirm details in order to locate and rate each pothole.

“While our focus shifts towards our spring street sweeping and pothole patching programs, we are always aware that the last snowfall typically occurs in April and has been known to happen as late as May,” says Jorgenson. “Crews will be ready for whatever Mother Nature brings our way.”

Winter road maintenance results:

• 12 snow falls, including 3 where more than more than 5 centimeters fell
• Removed 4,524 tandem truckloads of snow
• Applied 11,000 tonnes of sand, 5,500 tonnes of Caliber blend sand, 4,090 tonnes of Salt and 132 tonnes of Caliber pre wet liquid
• Used 305 tonnes of cold mix asphalt to temporarily repair potholes and utility cuts
• Repaired 311 total combined water and sewer issues

For more information about the City’s Snow & Ice programs visit saskatoon.ca/snow. Find street sweeping and pothole patching updates and schedules at saskatoon.ca/betterroads, and to report emergency pothole locations, please phone Public Works immediately at 306-975-2476.

For more City of Saskatoon Public Service Announcements, News Releases, Traffic Detours and Service Alerts, visit www.saskatoon.ca or connect with the City of Saskatoon on Twitter and Facebook.