All the sirens Thursday morning served as a good reminder that coordinated emergency response is vital to the Trail area.
Smoke was visible following an equipment malfunction in Teck Trail’s No. 2 Slag Fuming Furnace. But the billowing cloud prompted an outside 9-1-1 report of fire to Regional District of Kootenay Boundary dispatch, which had crews on standby (did not respond) per a Mutual Aid agreement.
With Teck emergency response crews immediately responding to the incident, the situation was full contained on site and normal operations resumed shortly thereafter.
There were no injuries and there was no risk to the public, confirmed Teck Community Relations Leader, Catherine Adair.
The scenario is timely because on Tuesday, Teck Trail Operations, Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue and the Regional District Kootenay Boundary Emergency Program will be conducting an emergency response exercise.
The exercise will be a beneficial training opportunity for emergency response agencies within the region.
The community is reminded that this will be a mock exercise.
During the simulation, access to residential Tadanac along Stoney Creek Road will be reduced to single‑lane traffic. Traffic control will be in place between 7 a.m. and noon, with minor delays expected.
The mock exercise involves community and mutual aid partners including the Regional District Kootenay Boundary Emergency Program partners (City of Trail and RDKB Electoral Area B), the RCMP, BC Ambulance Service, Canadian Red Cross, Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and Emergency Management British Columbia.
“At Teck Trail Operations, safety is a core value and we continually work to minimize the risk of incidents,” Adair said. “This is done through plant design, risk assessment and mitigation, and implementing safety controls.”
Teck Trail Operations has extensive emergency preparedness procedures and processes in place, she added.
“Including our 24-hour Emergency Control Centre, as well as mutual aid agreements with local municipalities. This exercise is an opportunity to continually enhance mutual preparedness in partnership with our community and mutual aid partners.”