At least six fires in the past two years at a local electronic recycling plant have prompted action by Barrie Fire and the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal.
The Global Electric Electronic Recycling (GEEP) facility on John St. has been shut down for a major investigation.
"It is a concern that we have with the number of fires that have happened at this location," said Barrie Fire Chief William Boyes at a news conference at Station 1 Thursday.
"This is something we take very seriously," Boyes added.
There were two small fires this month alone at the plant, including one on Monday, and then a larger fire Wednesday.
Along with an investigator from Barrie Fire, the OFMEM response involved an investigator, two engineers, the Emergency Response Unit to ensure the scene was safe and Supervisor Jeff Tebby.
Investigators from the Ministries of Environment and Labour were also on scene.
The factory is closed until officials complete inspections.
All the fires have involved different machinery with yesterday's in the precious metal shredder.
"There was a concern identified with hydrogen cyanide gas both in the building and outside in the staging area. Firefighters were decontaminated when they came out. The scene was allowed to cool down and ventilate so that today we could get in there safely and investigate."
"Hydrogen cyanide is a very toxic gas that is fatal at very low doses," explained Barrie Fire investigator Carrie Clark-Weatherup.
Levels of the gas were deemed to be low, confined to the immediate area and not a danger to the surrounding neighbourhood.
There have been no injuries at any of the fires.
The cause of Wednesday's fire is still being investigated but previous fires are classified as accidental or undetermined.
"We're investigating the processes, how the products go through the process and interact with the machine and is it functioning properly or is there a deficiency in the design," Tebby said.
The building was evacuated of its 70 operations staff plus 14 office staff on the shift yesterday.
GEEP employs 224 people.
Barrie Fire says the company has been working with fire officials to correct the issues but could face charges depending on the outcome of the inspections.
"In the event that fire code violations are identified within the structure, those violations are chargeable offences under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, under which the regulation is the fire code," said Clark-Weatherup.
Boyes said GEEP is currently before the courts on one Fire Code Violation from 2016 for failing to comply its fire safety plan.
"It does have a larger number of fires than other industrial locations," said Boyes, saying firefighters are more concerned about safety than frustrated by the chronic calls to the building.
"We want to make sure that we're doing everything we possibly can to make sure that the people in that building are safe, that the surrounding area is safe, that our firefighters are safe," said Boyes.
GEEP did not respond to BarrieToday's requests for comment.
The local waste recycling plant transforms electronic trash in its massive 500,000 square foot, 24-7 facility.
Every year, about 50,000 tons — that's about 100 million pounds of material - is recycled at GEEP.
