Vancouver port operations resume fully after fire earlier this week

VANCOUVER – Operations at Vancouver’s port have now resumed fully, after a chemical fire tore through a shipping container earlier this week.

A spokesman for Port Metro Vancouver says the Centerm container terminal, where the fire started, opened to full operations Friday night.

John Parker-Jervis says the terminal owned by Dubai-based DP World has added a Sunday shift to assist in clearing backlog.

He says Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services and Transport Canada will both conduct an investigation into the cause of the fire.

The container from China held a compound used for disinfectant and bleach, and it burned for more than 24 hours after going up in flames Wednesday afternoon.

More than a dozen people showed up at local emergency rooms with eye and lung irritation, and Vancouver Coastal Health spokeswoman Viola Kaminski said Saturday that there had been no new reports of anyone visiting hospital because of the fire.

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