Truck burns at Prineville Freight Depot; worker injured

A fire broke out Tuesday at the Prineville Freight Depot in a vacuum truck holding zirconium, a flammable byproduct of making magnesium chloride deicer, fire officials said, It was quickly extinguished , but a worker was admitted to St. Charles Bend for inhalation burns.

Crook County Fire and Rescue Chief Matt Smith said it was the third zirconium-related fire since 2011 at the mixing plant, operated by Envirotech Services Inc. But he noted that quick action by the workers prevented further damage to the facility.

Crews were dispatched around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday to the reported truck fire at the depot at 3842 Northwest Bus Evans Road. The State Fire Marshal’s Office joined the fire department in Wednesday’s investigation of the blaze.

The burning truck held about 50 gallons of zirconium, a flammable metal and a byproduct of the manufacturing process of the deicing agent. The truck is used to clean the byproduct from the mixing plant, Smith said.

A quick-thinking employee backed the truck away from the mixing plant before becoming fully engulfed with fire, the fire chief said, But the byproduct drawn into the truck’s tank caught fire and quickly spread to the rest of the vehicle after the worker got out of the cab.

Smith said spot fires reportedly were extinguished 60 feet in front of the truck due to the fire’s quick propagation.

The employee who moved the truck later checked into a hospital emergency room for breathing discomfort and is being treated at St. Charles Bend for inhalation burns, Smith said.

Crook County Fire and Rescue and the State Fire Marshal’s Office are reviewing the process for handling and disposal of the zirconium byproduct, Smith added. He noted the safety data sheet for zirconium says fires will burn when exposed to an ignition source, and dust may be explosive.

Smith said the fire agency has been in contact with Prineville Freight Depot representatives regarding the incidents.