Damage is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, following the fire at Belleville’s sewage pumphouse Sunday afternoon (original story CLICK HERE).
Around 12:15 p.m., city fire crew members were called to the pumphouse, along the Moira River, at the corner of Dundas Street and Front Street.
Thick smoke was coming from the roof area of the building.
Director of Environmental Services for the City of Belleville Perry DeCola credited quick work by fire members to save the building.
DeCola says that work was being done to the roof of the building when debris caught fire, which went into the ventilation of the building.
He says the water, smoke, and flames damaged some of the roof and some electrical, however, the major damage was in a system called the PLC.
The Programmable Logic Controller is the brains of the operation, according to DeCola.
He says it allows the municipality to control the pumphouse remotely.
It operates the pumping of sewage to the sewage treatment plant. There are four pumps of various sizes that are controlled by the PLC and one of these is offline until it is replaced.
DeCola says with the PLC out of commission, a manual backup float system has taken over.
The estimate for damage is between $200,000 and $500,000.
It will take up to one month to receive the new PLC and it will then need to be programmed.
It will be covered through insurance.
The Ontario Clean Water Agency is monitoring the facility.
