Skip to content

Plant cooperating with WorkSafeBC following fire

No injuries in late-January fire at Pinnacle Renewable Energy in Lavington
10480639_web1_180207-VMS-a-Pinnacle-Fire
Crews from the Lavington and Coldstream Fire Departments were called to a fire event Jan. 21 at the Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. plant on School Road in Lavington. There were no injuries and the company is cooperating with WorkSafeBC. (Morning Star file photo)

Lavington’s Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. plant is cooperating fully with WorkSafeBC following a flash fire at the mill.

The incident happened at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 21, at the plant in the 9900 block of School Road.

Nobody was injured.

“We can confirm that we did experience an event involving a failed bearing at the plant,” said Leroy Reitsma, Pinnacle president and chief operating officer. “No one was hurt and no material damage was sustained.

“The majority of the plant continued to operate while we conducted an investigation prior to resuming full operations.”

WorkSafeBC was notified by the employer of fire-related incident at the plant the following morning, Jan. 22. A safety officer from the organization was on-site on Jan. 23 at 8 a.m.

“According to WorkSafeBC preliminary information, a flash fire damaged pelleters and the material conveyance system. There were no injuries reported,” said Trish Knight Chernecki, senior manager of government and media relations for WorkSafeBC.

“The employer has submitted a preliminary employer investigation report that was found to be in compliance. The employer has 30 days to submit a full employer investigation report to determine why the incident occurred and what can be done to prevent similar situations in the future as required by Part 3 of the Workers Compensation Act.”

The Lavington Fire Department called out all of its volunteer members to help battle the blaze, and drew additional help from resources from the Coldstream Fire Department.



Roger Knox

About the Author: Roger Knox

I am a journalist with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. I started my career in radio and have spent the last 21 years working with Black Press Media.
Read more