A longshoreman on the scene of fire at Squamish Terminals says the evacuation was well handled.
"It was pretty intense. It was shooting over top of the warehouse," Barry Swain said of the fire, which filled downtown Squamish with smoke for hours on Thursday evening. "I saw the smoke and walked over and took a look, and there was a fire burning on the dock."
Swain, a veteran longshoreman and crane operator at the Terminals, told The Squamish Chief he was not afraid.
"There was nothing to worry about. It is just a creosote dock. The fire department got out there pretty quick," he said.
"We all went down to the muster station right away. The fire started to build... we all evacuated."
He said the ambulance was there if needed, but from his understanding, no one got smoke inhalation.
Swain has been working at the Terminals for about 24 years. He believes Thursday's fire started at the "corner of the docks" by Berth #1.
"Everybody was calm," he said. "There was nobody panicking. We have lots of fire hoses there."
The ship that had been at the dock was released to get it away from the flames.
"I think the volunteer fire department was pretty good for what they were doing," Swain added. "Eveybody got off the dock really quick. It was well organized. There was no panic or chaos."
Swain, who lives in the Valleycliffe area of Squamish, said his area did not get the smoke that the downtown area had experienced. Later in the evening, the wind direction reversed toward Howe Sound and the smoke downtown lessened.
Mayor Patricia Heintzman advised residents to keep windows and air intakes closed to avoid breathing the creosote that had burned on the dock.
