Clearwater’s only known Zamboni burned in a Tuesday afternoon fire (March 19).
The Clearwater Fire Department was called out at approximately 3:30 p.m. to attend a blaze at the North Thompson Sportsplex. The fire broke out on the Zamboni machine while it was working outside the ice rink. The machine had just dumped ice from the rink at an outside site when the driver heard a loud “pop,” said Alsid Prime, director of corporate services for the District of Clearwater.
By the time fire crews arrived, the Zamboni was fully engulfed in flames. The firefighters worked quickly to put the blaze out before it could spread back towards the recreational facility or nearby buildings, including an apartment complex.
No injuries were reported and an investigation is underway into the cause.
As onlookers gathered from a distance, a bystander was heard saying, “It’s a good thing the driver called it in quickly or the Sportsplex could have caught on fire also.”
Prime told the Clearwater Times that crews remained on scene following the blaze and added, “It looks like the machine is a write-off from what we can tell at this time.”
Efforts are already underway to locate a backup ice resurfacing machine, but it is so far unknown what losing the Zamboni will mean for recreational use in the immediate future.