Clearwater’s ice season prematurely ends after Zamboni goes up in flames
-
Share on Facebook
-
Share on Bluesky
-
Share on X
- Copy Link
CLEARWATER, B.C. — The remainder of Clearwater’s ice season went up in flames.
According to Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell, one of the pagers in the district’s office went off at around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday (March 19) with a staff member noting the community’s Zamboni was on fire behind the North Thompson Sportsplex. The Zamboni was only partially on fire when Blackwell and the local fire department arrived on scene but was quickly engulfed in flames.
“According to [the staff member’s] report, he heard a pop in the machine and flames started coming out from underneath the cover on it. No injuries, thankfully,” Blackwell told CFJC Today. “We’ll have the insurance investigators come up and look at the machine, make their assessment for an insurance claim and then we’ll start looking for a Zamboni to have in place for September to start the next season of ice. People were using it in the course of duty. Hopefully that turns out in our favour.”
Blackwell is hoping for a quick turnaround on an insurance claim on the Zamboni. But to ensure the district is ready to lay out a sheet of ice in the fall, he says they may need to look at borrowing or renting a Zamboni or finding a used one for sale.
