Crews extinguish fire at natural-gas-fired power plant in Saint John
N.B. Power says crews have extinguished a fire that broke out at its natural-gas-fired power plant in Saint John.
No staff were injured in the fire that emergency responders battled on the roof of the Crown corporation's Bayside generating station, said N.B. Power, on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Thank you to the first responders, including the Saint John Fire Department, and the Irving Paper employees who quickly alerted the fire department of the issue," said N.B. Power, on X.
CBC News asked N.B. Power for an interview about the fire and whether it affected operations at the station, but spokesperson Clayton Beaton said no one was available.
In an email, Beaton said the station is now offline, and N.B. Power has begun an investigation to determine the fire's cause and assess the damage.
"At this point, it appears the damage is minimal as the fire was extinguished quickly," he said.
N.B. Power purchased the station in 2019 for $46 million, but ran into trouble with the plant earlier than expected when it suffered a catastrophic failure that took it offline in January 2022.
The failure with a rotor blade put the plant offline for months, and its repair cost an estimated $46 million — the same amount the utility paid Emera Inc. for the used station.
The plant has had multiple owners, including Irving Oil Ltd. for a time. Emera bought it in 2009 and ran it for 10 years before selling to N.B. Power in 2019.
