A Friday night fire at the Imperial Oil plant outside of Norman Wells caused some alarm in the community, but officials say the blaze was extinguished as of Saturday morning.
Lisa Duncan, a community affairs advisor with Imperial Oil provided a statement Saturday evening that was posted on the Norman Wells Announcements Facebook page informing residents that operations were continuing after the Norman Wells Volunteer Fire Department and company personnel responded to a fire.
"Imperial has concluded its emergency response to the fire that occurred at the Norman Wells facility on Friday evening," she stated. "Maintenance work continues within the facility and residents can expect to see additional flaring and black smoke."
Duncan had been updating residents with posts throughout the weekend and since Friday when the company first reported to the fire.
The company reported no injuries and stated that there was no threat to the community as a result of the blaze.
The facility is located about two to three kilometres outside of the Sahtu village of 500 and produces natural gas and an electricity source for residents.
On Saturday, Imperial reported that residents should "expect to see additional flaring and black smoke from the facility" as response activities continue.
Town of Norman Wells Mayor Frank Pope said that he became aware that the fire had first been reported on Friday night but was informed the fire was out by early Saturday morning. The town's volunteer fire fighter department assisted on-site experts and trained personnel.
"The fire is under control and right now there is not a lot to talk about," he said on Sunday, after being briefed by the company. "We talked about the safety of the town and of the workers and they were very thankful for the volunteer and stand by fire fighters when everything was out."
Pope said there will be a full investigation of the incident as there has not been a cause determined.
He added that there was not a full damage report, although he understood at least one wall was seriously damaged.
For much of the weekend, alarms were going to keep people away from the site as the company got the situation under control, he said. The company said in a statement that it was working to reset its emergency alarm system sounding from one of its cross-river facilities.