CBC News Posted: Feb 25, 2011 7:04 AM PT Last Updated: Feb 25, 2011 7:03 AM PT

A chemical company is suing the City of Kelowna and its fire department for negligence after toxic chemicals were washed into a local creek following a warehouse fire last summer.

Pesticides, fertilizers and glycol were washed into a storm drain while firefighters were dousing the flames at the Univar Canada depot, one of several businesses destroyed by a fire on Kirschner Road in July.

Univar Canada, Kelowna

The runoff turned the water in nearby Mill Creek bright green and killed dozens of small fish before working its way into Okanagan Lake.

In recently filed court documents, Univar Canada — a wholesale agricultural fertilizer and pesticide supplier — alleges fire crews didn’t do enough to keep the chemicals from contaminating nearby soil and water, and ignored warnings from the company’s staff about the risks.

“My reaction is that I do not believe there is any merit to the claim,” said Kelowna fire chief Jeff Carlisle. “The Kelowna fire department did absolutely the best job possible given the complexity of that size of an industrial fire.”

The city has not yet filed a statement of defense.

However, Kelowna Mayor Sharon Shepherd said she was surprised to learn about the lawsuit. She said fire crews worked closely with Univar to clean up the contamination.

“We, I felt, did due diligence and did it in a very timely fashion and had cooperation to do that from the companies involved,” she said.

The contamination of Mill Creek killed dozens of small fish and forced the closure of two downtown beaches for several days.

In a written statement released Thursday, the company said the lawsuit was filed in its name by its insurance company without its knowledge.