Massive fire destroys vehicles at Saskatoon salvage yard

An  industrial fire at a Saskatoon auto wrecking yard caused heavy plumes of black smoke to be seen as far away as Warman, Blaine Lake and Humboldt.

“The smoke got bigger and bigger, obviously more cars were catching on and then everything just started happening … and then it was just huge,” said Pat Dubets, who lives next door to AJ’s Salvage and saw everything unfold.

Saskatoon Fire Department was on scene at Ave P South and 14th Street Tuesday after initially being called out for a car fire.

Saskatoon’s assistant fire chief, Dave Bykowy, said there were at least 100 cars burning. The cars are stacked five high, adding to the vertical height of the fire, “which just adds to how fast the fire propagates”.

The cars were prepared to be crushed; this means there was no gas, or other flammable fluids inside them, he said.

The biggest challenge to the fire department as they worked to contain the blaze to the yard was the distance of the location from a water source. They are using five engines and two tankers.

Due to the amount of plastic being burned, the Ministry of Environment is involved to see if there is a need for concern on air quality, especially with the proximity to St. Paul’s hospital.

The fire department sent out a tweet earlier this evening as they arrived to the scene.

Saskatoon Fire currently fighting large fire in an auto wrecking yard. Preparing for a long incident pic.twitter.com/4BJ0XfgiCd

— Saskatoon Fire (@SaskatoonFire) April 20, 2016

Police received the call just after 5:30 p.m. According to police, witnesses reported seeing young kids in the area lighting tires on fire.

Officers now have two kids in custody at this point and the investigation is ongoing.

View from Ladder 1. Fire declared under control at 23:14. Crews breaking down lines and releasing some apparatus pic.twitter.com/DGeUV9AYOD

— Saskatoon Fire (@SaskatoonFire) April 20, 2016

The public is asked to avoid the area and stay well back.