Some social media users are calling it Saltgate, while others appear downright mortified that a "salt crisis" has really been the talk of Vancouver.

Free de-icing salt has become a hot commodity in the city during an unusually cold winter, as some residents clamour to get more than their fair share to keep icy sidewalks and roads safe.

Snow, followed by slush and falling temperatures, turned streets into skating rinks.

The City of Vancouver was set to offer bags of salt to residents out of local fire halls on Wednesday morning.

But Capt. Jonathan Gormick of Vancouver Fire and Rescue says the bags disappeared the night before at some sites within an hour of being delivered.

He says a firefighter had to stop at least one person after he appeared to have loaded the free salt into garbage bins and started to haul it toward a pickup truck.

Gormick expects the man may have intended to sell the salt online because stores have run out of it.

With files from The Canadian Press