Weyburn's emergency services were called to Crescent Point Place at around 3:30 on Thursday afternoon after a report of a dangerous smell.
"The Leisure staff were turning on the brine pumps to start to cool off the slab for ice install. There was a small release of ammonia from one of the compressors during the startup, so the levels did climb inside the plant area," said Deputy Fire Chief Mike Wock.
He said the ammonia release was over nearly as soon as it began, though, with the levels almost at zero by the time Fire Services were on the scene.
"They were able to shut everything in and isolate. It was just during the ventilation process that you would have smelled some of that gas escaping, especially with the wind direction," he shared. "Within the first few minutes of me arriving on scene, we had that update from the Facility Manager with what happened, so we were able to confirm and stand down our crews accordingly."
Wock noted the staff had opened the doors to the plant to get some air movement through there to help clear out the residual ammonia.
However, when it comes to noxious aromas, even knowing it was a report of an ammonia leak, he would treat it as an emergent situation until we proved otherwise.
"[It's] definitely something that could warrant evacuations if it was a full-fledged leak that we couldn't control," he explained. "There was no need for alarm, but definitely the response by all agencies kind of suited the situation. It's not something you want to be exposed to, for sure."
The call placed to 911 got dispatches to the emergency services, which Wolk said is the right way to go.
"In the event that any bystanders smell or notice any kind of odours that they're concerned with, 911 should be your first call, just so we can respond a little bit more readily."
He added that the Weyburn Fire Department investigates smells on a regular basis.