Fertilizer spill shuts down parts of highway overpass near Balgonie, ignites fires

The Balgonie Volunteer Fire Department said in a social media post there was little or no danger to the public after a hazardous material spill on Saturday morning. (mat277/Shutterstock - image credit)
The Balgonie Volunteer Fire Department said in a social media post there was little or no danger to the public after a hazardous material spill on Saturday morning. (mat277/Shutterstock - image credit)

Stretches of a highway overpass just east of Regina had to be closed Saturday morning due to a fertilizer spill, White Butte RCMP said in a news release Saturday.

"Worked hard yesterday to get cleaned up to the intersection and which then allowed us to open all the roads except the southbound lanes on the overpass," Doug Lapchuk chief of Balgonie Volunteer Fire Department told CBC News on Sunday.

A semi spilled flammable fertilizer which started fires in a few small spots that the department had to put out.

"The one side [that is closed] is the southbound lanes on Highway 46 that go directly over the overpass connecting to the on-ramp for number 1 west and number 1 east," Lapchuk said.

He said the closure should reopen by Sunday night and that 90 percent of the cleanup was done.

As of 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Saskatchewan's Highway Hotline website indicated a closure at the Highway 46 Highway 364 intersection.
As of 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Saskatchewan's Highway Hotline website indicated a closure at the Highway 46 Highway 364 intersection.

As of 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Saskatchewan's Highway Hotline website indicated a closure at the Highway 46 Highway 364 intersection. (Saskatchewan Highway Hotline)

Lapchuk said the truck driver hauling the flammable fertilizer was spilling the dangerous material for almost 5 km and did not report it to authorities.

"The person who caused the spill has not come forward, has not identified themselves to anybody as yet …. and there's evidence that the operator stopped, got out of the truck, closed the gate, left footprints in the pile of the material, and drove away without reporting the spill," Lapchuk said.

He said somebody in the community noticed the material early Saturday morning, took a photo, and sent it to the department.

"I went out and checked and at that time I had no idea what the product was and it took the better part of 45 minutes to an hour before we determined the best guess as to what the product was and then took the steps from there," he said.

Until then, traffic was driving over the flammable material, which ignited the fertilizer in a few places.

"We had one on the south side that started a fire, and it was not a big fire but it got into the grass, and then we had two spot fires on the pavement from the material being driven overturned into dust and then self-igniting," he said.

Lapchuk said 17 firefighters were responding to the incident from multiple departments including Pilot Butte Fire, Emerald Park Fire and White City Fire. He said they were all volunteers who gave up time on Thanksgiving weekend to help with a situation that could've been much worse.

"This product that we were dealing with has a tendency to self-ignite if conditions are right and the conditions that we had yesterday were absolutely right for it to occur," he said.

He said the product was high in sulfur and can be a high health risk, and it could have been an environmental and safety issue if firefighters did not take the necessary steps including road closures and mitigation.

Lapchuk also said he was disappointed to see the response people had to the road closures.

"We were being less than respectfully addressed while trying to do a very difficult job….  And I would just ask if people can try to understand, the roadblocks are there for a reason."

RCMP said in a news release Saturday that there is little to no risk to the public, and no impact on Highway 1 under the overpass.

As of 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Saskatchewan's Highway Hotline website indicated a closure at the Highway 46 and Highway 364 intersection.

Drivers can use the Voyent app or check the Highway Hotline for updates, the fire department said.

Balgonie is about 25 kilometres east of Regina.