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Prohibited materials burning in debris fire causes column of black smoke in Salmon Arm

The person who started the fire was given a warning by the Salmon Arm fire department
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Prohibited materials that were burning in the debris fire caused a plume of black smoke that rose over Okanagan Ave. the morning of Tuesday, May 28. (Cameron Thomson/Salmon Arm Observer)

A fire that sent a plume of black smoke above Salmon Arm this morning has been extinguished.

At approximately 7:10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 28, the Salmon Arm fire department responded to a call about black smoke rising behind the 900 block of Okanagan Avenue East.

By 7:25 a.m. the fire was extinguished. Fire Chief Brad Shirley said the source of the smoke was a debris fire that had prohibited materials burning in it.

Read more: Regulations need to change for logging debris on-site, says BC Forest Practices Board

Read more: Debris burn produces black, acrid smoke

Regulations laid out in the Environmental Management Act states that some prohibited items to burn in a debris fire include: tires, treated lumber, plastics, drywall, asphalt products and more.

“It’s getting hot and dry so people should be more selective about what they’re burning,” said Salmon Arm fire chief Brad Shirley about the fire.

The person who started the fire was given a warning by the fire department.


@CameronJHT
Cameron.thomson@saobserver.net

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