Overheating industrial furnace in Oakville prompts evacuation

The Oakville Fire Department is investigating after an overheating furnace prompts the evacuation of an industrial building. - Graham Paine/Metroland

The Oakville Fire Department is looking into what caused a furnace to become superheated to the point it prompted the evacuation of a local industrial complex Wednesday, July 5.

Deputy Fire Chief Dan Boyer says fire crews were called to an industrial facility at 2890 Plymouth Dr., at around 11:37 a.m., after a furnace began giving off abnormally intense heat and smoke, which resulted in employees having to leave the building.

“We assessed the condition with our thermal imaging camera and found there was significant heat in the area of that furnace,” said Boyer.

“We stretched our attack lines and aggressively cooled the furnace with water, which took a significant amount of time — approximately three hours.”

Electricity to the furnace was also shut down.

No one was injured during this incident.

Boyer said the heat from the furnace was so intense that some of the surrounding insulation in the roof structure and some of the insulation in the furnace itself was burnt.

An investigation is currently underway to determine what happened.

No damage estimate is available at this time.

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