The cause of Monday’s fire at All Ontario Recycling in Barrie is still being determined, as is a damage estimate.
City firefighters were called to 359 Tiffin St. at about 11 a.m. on Aug. 19 for a blaze involving “a very large pile” of scrap metal cars, said Assistant Fire Chief Justin Gilbert of Barrie Fire and Emergency Service.
“We’re not rushing the crews that are doing the work (on cause and damages), so when they have it, they’ll have it,” he said.
Gilbert said there have been no further reports of hot spots there.
“That was left up to property owners to do fire watch overnight and as far as I know we have not re-attended from a fire suppression standpoint,” he said.
Neighbours were still talking about the fire Monday night.
Lucy and Nelson Theriault said they saw the commotion late that morning.
“We left because all the fire alarms were going off in our building and we couldn’t get back in (because Barrie city police evacuated the area),” Lucy Theriault said.
She said they returned home at 3:30 p.m. and they had no after-effects from the fire’s smoke.
Choon Ooi said it was a frightening experience.
“It was scary — it was right behind the house,” he said of the fire. “At first, we thought it was fog, then I noted it was smoke and started hearing sirens and the fire truck coming.
“It was like really black smoke coming and then we were ready to evacuate," Ooi added.
Ooi said he had a headache from the experience.
“We still have that smell,” he said. “A lot of our neighbours aren’t coming back home today, so they are staying somewhere else because of the toxic smell.”
Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks staff were at the scene Monday to assess potential impacts from the fire, including air quality.