It was no April Fool for Richmond Fire-Rescue crews in the early hours of Monday when they were called out to deal with a fire at Richmond Plywood on Vulcan Way.
Areas above and around a drying kiln were shrouded in smoke when crews arrived shortly before 5 a.m., just north of the Home Depot outlet store.
Arriving fire crews saw white smoke coming from the end of the building, but it turned out the fire was confined to the roof/attic space at the plywood mill.
"The fire was difficult to control as it was isolated to a portion of the roof structure that is structurally difficult to access, as it was over 25 feet in the air and constructed of heavy timber," said deputy fire chief Tim Wilkinson.
"The firefighters worked with the Richmond Plywood employees to confine the fire to the area of origin and finally wrap it all up after some nine hours of steady work."
In total, 29 fire fighters attended the blaze, along with nine trucks, and spent nine hours dealing with the scene.
Water sprinklers and a deluge system at the plant also helped to keep the fire to one particular area.
Fire investigators from Richmond Fire-Rescue are actively searching for a cause of the fire but remain optimistic that it is fairly routine and not suspicious in any way.
Engineers are also assessing the significant structural damage to the steel beams and damage to the solid wood beams that were exposed to excessive fire conditions. No injuries were reported at this incident.
Daylight stabbing
Police were called to a suspected daylight stabbing in the 6200 block of No 3 Road on Wednesday around 2: 30 p.m.
According to Richmond RCMP, one man received minor injuries to his arm and was taken to hospital. He was expected to be released shortly after being treated. No other details of the incident have been released.
