Blue Cart service disruption today – Wednesday, June 27

Residential Blue Cart customers may experience a service disruption on Wednesday, June 27 due to a fire at the recycling sorting facility, located on 46 Street in Southeast Calgary.

The fire began around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning at the recycling sorting facility. The building’s fire alarm system worked and all employees were evacuated safely with no injuries reported. Calgary Fire crews quickly responded to the scene and contained the fire. The origin and cause of the fire remains under investigation and Calgary Fire continues to look for hot spots at the facility.

“We’re happy to report that all employees are safe following this morning’s fire,” says Sharon Howland, Leader of Program Management at Waste of Recycling Services for The City of Calgary.” We apologize for any disruptions in Blue Cart service today and are asking citizens to roll your cart back in and store your recyclables until your next scheduled collection day on Wednesday, July 4.”

Residents unable to store recyclables until their next Blue Cart collection day can take their recyclables to a Community Recycling Depot. Community Recycling Depots (CRD) may also experience a service disruption so residents are reminded not to deposit materials into full depot bins.

Commercial collection service has not been affected at this time.

Although the cause of the fire is still under investigation, this is not the first fire seen by the facility.“Previous fires that have occurred at this facility have been the result of improper disposal of hazardous materials,” says Howland. “Although the cause of this particular fire is still under investigation, we would like to remind Calgarians not to put these materials in their blue carts but to use one of the hazardous waste drop-off locations around The City to safely and properly dispose of materials, such as propane tanks, car batteries and other hazardous materials.”

Regular operations are scheduled to resume tomorrow and City officials will provide a service update as more information becomes available.

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