Free salt! Icy sidewalks inspire rush on supplies at fire halls in Vancouver
VANCOUVER — Free salt has become a hot commodity in Vancouver as some residents clamour for more than their fair share of a limited supply intended to keep sidewalks safe during an unusually cold winter.
The city offered residents two buckets of salt at 10 fire halls on Wednesday, but that was scaled back to one small bucket after all the salt was gone within an hour and more had to be delivered.
Capt. Jonathan Gormick of Vancouver Fire and Rescue said residents cleared some fire halls of salt soon after it arrived on Tuesday night, when crowds got out of control at three fire halls.
“We had to get Vancouver police to respond and intervene, partly because of the sheer volume of people. Unfortunately, they had to intervene in a couple of incidents where people were starting to get physical and heated with each other.”