SARNIA, Ont. - Imperial Oil says “all workers have been accounted for” after a tower collapsed at its facility in Sarnia, Ont., Tuesday night. In a post on its Facebook page, the company says the tower was out of service at the time of the incident, as it was being prepared for maintenance. It says people in the community may notice increased “flaring” as part of the emergency response process. Sarnia police say they’re monitoring the situation along with officials from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation. They say a section of Vidal Street South, a main artery in the city’s Chemical Valley area, will remain closed until engineers can determine it’s safe to reopen. Imperial Oil says its Sarnia operation employs approximately 800 people between its oil refinery, chemical plant and research centre.<doc-sep>SARNIA, Ont. -- Imperial Oil says "all workers have been accounted for" after a tower collapsed at its facility in Sarnia, Ont., Tuesday night. In a post on its Facebook page, the company says the tower was out of service at the time of the incident, as it was being prepared for maintenance. It says people in the community may notice increased "flaring" as part of the emergency response process. Sarnia police say they're monitoring the situation along with officials from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation. They say a section of Vidal Street South, a main artery in the city's Chemical Valley area, will remain closed until engineers can determine it's safe to reopen. Imperial Oil says its Sarnia operation employs approximately 800 people between its oil refinery, chemical plant and research centre.<doc-sep>A tower being prepared for plant maintenance at Imperial’s Sarnia manufacturing site collapsed inside the plant Tuesday night. Article content A tower being prepared for plant maintenance at Imperial’s Sarnia manufacturing site collapsed inside the plant Tuesday night. Through its Facebook page, Imperial reported that all of the site’s workers had “been accounted for” in the wake of the collapse. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Tower collapses at Imperial Oil site in Sarnia Back to video “We have activated our incident command centre and are working with local authorities,” the Imperial statement said. “As a precaution, our emergency responders are spraying water on the structure.” The plant’s sirens were sounded following the out-of-service tower’s collapse while Imperial issued a Chemical Valley Emergency Co-ordinating Organization (CVEKO) Code 6, which asks for “full traffic control … in designated areas.” Sarnia police advised residents to avoid Vidal Street South, south of Confederation Street, in a media release. Imperial indicated local residents would notice high flaring from the site as part of its “emergency response processes.” The company also initiated air monitoring “as a precaution.” “We will keep the community updated as we continue to manage this incident,” the company statement said.<doc-sep>Sarnia police say Vidal Street South will fully reopen Wednesday afternoon after a tower collapsed inside the Sarnia Imperial Oil site Tuesday evening. The tower was scheduled for maintenance and was not in service when it fell. The company issued a Code 6 and it's working with local authorities. Imperial emergency responders sprayed water on the structure as a precaution. According to Imperial Oil, through their Facebook Page, all employees have been accounted for since the tower's collapse. "Community members will notice high flaring from the site," the company said, adding that a full investigation into the cause of the collapse will happen. Imperial Oil has also initiated air monitoring, and readings have shown zero. Police say the company will continue to monitor and assess the situation. Reason for collapse At this point, it's not clear why the tower had collapsed, said Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley, but he said "it's highly unusual" for something like this to happen. Mayor Mike Bradley says it's not clear as to why the tower collapsed Tuesday night. (Colin Côté-Paulette/Radio-Canada) Bradley has been told that the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Environment have been contacted about the collapse. He's hoping to find out why the tower went down, because a lot of plants and structures in Sarnia are of a similar age as Imperial Oil. "Because any time you have a failure of that nature, something physically collapses, there's issues there that needs to be addressed," said Bradley. "If one plant went down, could another one go down?" He will be meeting with officials later on Wednesday to discuss the situation.<doc-sep>
Send this page to someone via email UPDATE: April 3 — The tower collapse at Imperial Oil’s site in Sarnia did not result in any uncontrolled releases into the air of any products at any time, according to Ontario’s Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. Ministry staff determined this by using handheld monitoring equipment, which did not detect any volatile organic compounds, sulphur dioxide or odours downwind of the company. They also found no sheen along the St. Clair River. The sirens at Imperial Oil’s facility in Sarnia were activated after a tower fell there, and “high flaring” could be seen from the site on Tuesday night, said a statement posted to Facebook. All workers were accounted for after the tower fell, triggering a “CVECO Code 6” — an alert suggesting that “full traffic control is requested in designated areas.” WATCH: Oct. 19, 2017 — Cellphone video shows extreme flaring at Imperial Oil refinery in Sarnia in Feb. 2017 1:45 Cellphone video shows extreme flaring at Imperial Oil refinery in Sarnia in Feb. 2017 Cellphone video shows extreme flaring at Imperial Oil refinery in Sarnia in Feb. 2017 – Oct 19, 2017 Imperial activated an incident command centre and said it’s working with local authorities. Story continues below advertisement Emergency personnel were spraying water on the structure and community members were notified that they could see “high flaring” from the site. READ MORE: No charges for Imperial Oil despite Sarnia residents fearing the plant ‘was going to blow up’ “This measure is part of our emergency response processes,” the Facebook statement said. “We have initiated air monitoring as a precaution.” In a statement, Sarnia police said the Sarnia Primary Control Group and the Aamjiwnaang First nation are together monitoring the situation at Imperial Oil. Police said a tower collapsed inside the plant along the west side of Vidal Street South. There was no emergency offsite impact, they added. Police also warned of increased controlled flaring at the site.