Canada’s fickle relationship with race fuel is getting more heated by the minute…literally. Speedway International, a supplier of racing gasoline and methanol to racers all across North America erupted in flames on Monday and at the time of this writing, firefighters from multiple departments are battling the fire, neighborhoods surrounding the business have been evacuated, and concerns are rising about rail cars full of methanol and race gas in proximity to the fire.
Through reading various news reports that are coming out of Canada, the business stores 170,000 liters of methanol, 400,000 liters of race gas, and 300,000 liters of bio-diesel at the location that is on fire. Those are some massive numbers and it certainly explains the level of concern and caution being taken by local authorities. The fire is burning so intensely that crews are only able to get to within about 600 meters of the building. They were closer but when the fire really cranked up, they had to pull back.
At this writing no injuries or cause had been reported. We’re going to continue to follow this story as it is sure to have ramification outside of the actual fire. Racing fuel was nearly banned in Canada in 2010. This fire could certainly start the negative press back up on that front. We hope not, but we know how this stuff works.
LINK: Crews battle fire at Winnipeg race fuel company
