Two people were sent to hospital and Lilydale Food Products in Port Coquitlam was evacuated Thursday morning after an ammonia leak at the Kingsway Avenue facility.
PoCo Fire Chief Nick Delmonico told The Tri-City News that a broken pipe was likely the source of the leak. Crews were still on scene at 1:30 p.m.
Power to the building was shut off due to concerns about the possibility of an explosion.
As well, the building was being vented Thursday afternoon; earlier, firefighters had concerns about how much ammonia was in the building and how it would affect people in neighbouring businesses.
Initially, two workers were reported missing, Delmonico said. Firefighters entered the facility to look for them but both were found unharmed outside the building.
This is not the first time fire crews have been called out to the Lilydale facility.
In 2012, staff were evacuated during a similar incident that saw a tank full of ammonia spring a leak. Employees were forced to wait outside the building for three hours while a chemical specialist was sent inside to replace a valve and ventilate the building.
In 2011, the Alberta government laid charges against Lilydale Inc. after an ammonia leak at its Calgary plant two years prior. The province said the Edmonton-based company didn't make a timely report about the incident to Alberta Environment.
