By TERRY PUGH
An early-morning coffee run for an area resident got a little hotter than expected when his work truck accidentally went up in flames.
Martensville Fire Department (MFD) members were called to the scene of a vehicle fire in the Martensville Tim Hortons parking lot on Centennial Drive around 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 22.
A towering column of thick black smoke and orange flames greeted firefighters, who arrived in a matter of minutes from their fire hall just a few blocks away.
“When we arrived on scene a Ford F150 was fully engulfed in flames,” said Martensville Fire Chief Dean Brooman. “We were able to get the fire under control and extinguished quite quickly.”
There were no injuries.
Martensville Deputy Fire Chief James Taylor said it was fortunate the vehicle was in the middle of the parking lot.
“The building wasn’t threatened and no other vehicles were close by,” said Taylor. “So it was the best case scenario for somebody’s worst case morning.”
The driver of the truck, who works for an area construction company, said he pulled into the parking lot and went inside the restaurant to order coffee. While he was waiting for his order, another patron said there was a vehicle that had smoke coming out from under the hood. Someone called 911 to alert the fire department.
The fire apparently started accidentally in the engine compartment and quickly spread to the rest of the vehicle.
The fire was contained to the front part of the vehicle. The aluminum frame and plastic components were completely destroyed. A tool box in the truck box in the rear part of the vehicle did not appear to be as badly damaged.
After the fire was extinguished, firefighters went through an initial decontamination process at the scene.
“There are a lot of carcinogens that are released in any fire, particularly in vehicle fires,” said Taylor. “We’ve implemented some new decontamination protocols to help safeguard the health of firefighters. A lot of cancers are attributable to these types of carcinogens that don’t show up for many years.”
Taylor said the decontamination process involves removing turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus and rinsing off the firefighters at the fire scene. The equipment is stored in a bag and later goes through a thorough washing in a specialized washing machine back at the fire hall. This process removes about 80 per cent of the carcinogens. Firefighters also thoroughly shower at the hall before going off duty.
“It makes a big difference,” said Taylor. “We won’t see the benefits in the short term, but the payoff will come down the road with fewer cases of firefighter cancer cases in 25 to 30 years.
“We’re trying to implement measures now to avoid health issues for our members in the future.”