A one-ton pile of de-icing salt dropped off at a Vancouver fire hall early Thursday morning was gone within 30 minutes as the city entered its second day of a frenzied giveaway.

Hundreds of people were turned away at 10 local fire halls Wednesday after demand greatly outstripped supply of a free salt and sand mix being given away by the City of Vancouver for residents to clear their icy sidewalks and driveways.

In some cases, the loads of salt were already gone before the promotion started, with some eager residents showing up overnight to scoop up bucket loads. Some fire halls saw lineups hundreds of people long and traffic jams of eager drivers.

The salt is a red-hot commodity, with many stores sold out across Metro Vancouver.

Vancouver's handling – or perceived mishandling – of the salt giveaway prompted the hashtag "saltgate" and "saltcrisis" to trend on Twitter.

It's also prompted city councillor Melissa De Genova to call for an inquiry into the giveaway and also the formal response to the snow accumulation that's led to hazardous and slippery side streets and sidewalks.

"It's a sore subject when taxes go up and services go down," De Genova said on Twitter.

"I'll be asking about this at our first 2017 meeting."

On the second day of the promotion the frenzy appeared to be dying down, but people still turned up in droves to fill up their bucket.

Although the city at first said residents could take two buckets, it's now asking people to limit themselves to one small pail.

Fire Captain Jonathan Gormick said piles of salt disappeared between half-an-hour to an hour Thursday morning, but there would now be two shipments daily "well into this week and even early next week depending on the demand."

Fire hall staff have seen people returning to the same pile to pick up more salt, which Gormick finds disappointing.

"This is not really in the spirit of what we were intending," he said. "We've seen people being a little more aggressive. We can't imagine people needing more than one bucket for their sidewalks or walkway."

Fire halls across the city have been inundated with calls from the public asking if they have salt.

Vancouver has apparently also reached out to other municipalities to see if they have salt to spare.

Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart took to Twitter to post a photo with the caption: "Guarding Coquitlam's stockpile of road salt, after Vancouver called looking for some."

Two-hundred and sixty personnel have been redeployed and have been working "24/7 since the first snowfall in December to brine, salt and sand priority routes, and clear residual snow and ice, to maintain street safety,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a statement issued to media.

Robertson thanked residents for their patience, and acknowledged the "difficulties and frustrations this unusual winter weather has caused Vancouver residents."

"It’s been challenging for us, too," he wrote.

The mayor says over the past two days crews have made progress putting down a sand and salt mixture on side streets considered high priority – cleaning up access for public schools, hospitals and community centres.

He says the work is about 80 per cent complete.

With more snow in the forecast over the weekend, the city is confirming it has not run out of road salt, and more regular shipments are expected. Staff says it has an "ample" supply to tackle the flurries and snow-rain-freeze cycle that created hazardous roadways in recent weeks.

Fire halls in Vancouver that are giving out salt are located at:

  • 2801 Quebec St.
  • 1475 W. 10th Ave.
  • 1090 Haro St.
  • 2460 Balaclava St.
  • 4013 Prince Albert St.
  • 2804 Venables St.
  • 3003 E. 22nd Ave.
  • 7070 Knight St.
  • 4396 W. 12th Ave.
  • 1005 W. 59th Ave.