Firefighters battled a large blaze at a Chatham ethanol plant early Wednesday after a storage tank containing about 700,000 litres of alcohol caught fire. Chatham-Kent Fire and Rescue was called to the Greenfield Global facility at 275 Bloomfield Road shortly after midnight. Acting Fire Chief Adam Walters said crews arrived to find a tank at the rear of the property fully involved. “This is a very big one for us today,” Walters told CTV News. “We had six aerial devices on scene today. I can’t recall in my career where we’ve had that many large apparatuses at a fire scene, supplying that much water to a fire scene.” The fire was extinguished shortly before 8 a.m. About 13 apparatus and 80 to 90 personnel, including supporting agencies, were involved in the response, Walters said. St. Clair Township Fire Service and Nova Fire Response teams were also brought in to provide additional resources. “We do work and train for these scenarios,” Walters said. “Our crews, they call for their additional resources when they get here to assist them, knowing that they’re not able to do it all the time by themselves.” Greenfield Global said lightning struck a corn-based ethanol storage tank at the facility in the early hours of Wednesday, causing the fire. The company said the fire was isolated to the storage tank farm and there did not appear to be damage to any other section of the plant. “All employees and personnel on-site are accounted for and safe,” Greenfield said in a statement. No injuries have been reported. Walters said the official cause and origin of the fire remain under investigation. “We have had some people indicate that,” he said when asked about a possible lightning strike. “We do have investigators coming to the scene to assist with Chatham-Kent in that. The OFM (Office of the Fire Marshal) has been notified of this incident, and we’re going to work on determining what the cause and origin is.” Walters said crews were also working to address runoff water and containment following the fire. “The runoff water and the containment is still, that’s the work that’s currently underway,” he said. “The Ministry of Environment is going to attend the scene, and we’re working with other agencies with Chatham-Kent drainage and public works in those recovery efforts as well.” The municipality said there were no indications of an air-quality issue related to the fire. Greenfield Global said it is working with local authorities to ensure environmental and regulatory requirements are met. Cleanup crews were on site Wednesday, and Bloomfield Road remained closed between Riverview Drive and the railway tracks while cleanup operations continued. Businesses in the Richmond Street and Bloomfield Road area remained open. Heather Pelcz, who lives nearby and was born and raised in Chatham, said she saw the lightning and then heard a loud noise. “We saw the lightning, and then we heard a big boom,” Pelcz recalled. “But we were just sitting there, and it felt like … the floors come up and went down.” Pelcz said she had never experienced anything like it and that the fire prompted her to question whether the city has the resources needed to respond to a major incident at the facility. “That was scary!” she said. More photos are available in CTV Windsor’s photo galleries.
