More than 20 injured in explosion and fire at B.C. sawmill

[oneh2obabe]

BURNS LAKE, B.C. - More than 20 people have been injured in an explosion at a sawmill east of Burns Lake, B.C, a health official said.

The blast, and resulting fire, tore through the Babine Forest Service Mill just after 8:00 p.m. Friday, with dozens of workers inside.

Steve Raper with Northern Health says hospitals from Prince George to Smithers have been mobilized on Code Orange to deal with the victims.

"Approximately 18 have arrived at Burns Lake, 2 have been transported to Vanderhoof, 4 to Fraser Lake, and 4 to Smithers. We're working on exact numbers and we're not sure if those numbers will change."

Raper adds the severity of injuries also ranges -- but won't confirm any possible fatalities.

"From what I understand, it's a range of injuries... burns, up to and including critical but no confirmation on what those numbers are and what that exactly is."

Emergency services from neighbouring communities were brought in to deal with the flames.

The RCMP says the cause of the explosion is still under investigation and the area has been secured at this time.

The mill is located some 220 kilometres northwest of Prince George. (CKNW / The Canadian Press)

[tiabc]

This is a sad day for Burns Lake.

[Queen K]

A sad day for Burns Lake, the workers, and their families dependant upon the income from that Mill.

Heart and gut wrenching for all.

[motorhomebabe]

My heart goes out to them all. Those on the inside, and those trying to get them out. Terrible.

[Fixer 166]

Heard today workers smelled gas hrs before the explosion.
Yikes, shoulda been shut down right then.
I wonder if they have gas detecters? Lel's?

[Bsuds]

I read that too and made me go "huh" why wasn't it shut down asap! If that's true of course.

[steven lloyd]

Burns Lake facing uncertain future
by The Canadian Press - Story: 70032
Jan 22, 2012 / 6:54 am

For the better part of his life, grinding out 12 hour shifts on the floor of the Babine sawmill in Burn's Lake has been all John Ruffell has known.

When his work week begins again, he'll be at a loss.

A fireball levelled the mill just after shift-change Friday evening, leaving a gaping hole for several thousands workers, many who have marched dutifully to the job for more than 30 years.

"I thought about working on my golf swing, I'm going to have some free time in the spring," Ruffell said with a sad chuckle Saturday, standing near the front gate of the blue collar town's industrial core.

"Next week we'll start figuring stuff out, I guess."

The mill opened in 1975, ushering in a wave of newcomers from across the country and building the village from the ground up, according to some of its working men, who reminisced as faint grey smoke rose from the still-smoldering site.

They're now processing disbelief and awaiting word on the conditions of seriously injured co-workers, including two who remained unaccounted for, while trying to stay optimistic some part of the business so integral to the community is salvageable.

"There is hope. They can do it. It just takes the will," said one labourer, who asked to remain anonymous, who's been 33 years on the job.

The man, who left for home only about an hour before the explosion, said the mill has had its peaks and valleys, but appeared to be back on the upswing again after several rough years owing to the faltering economy.

"This year and last year they started making profits again. Things were just coming back. This community dug really deep to keep this place going. And now this."

The company, a joint venture between the local First Nations and a U.S. company, had even handed workers a wage hike for weathering the recent downturn, and before that had not asked for wage decreases like other mills had done to keep afloat, he said.

"This is not an easy industry to get started in or to stay in. It's commitment to high-intensity, it's almost like warfare."
The impact will be "colossal," said Bruce Disher,

"The whole town is basically Babine Forest Products. We have one other small sawmill, west of town. Probably 80 per cent of the jobs in Burns Lake end right here," the welder said.

Burns Lake Band Chief Albert Gerow estimates about 30 per cent of the local economy is directly linked to the mill, and then there are numerous spinoff jobs.

"We're able to hopefully rebuild this sawmill, there's a variety of opportunities that we could look toward as time goes on," he told reporters at a news conference Saturday evening.

Gerow is president of the Burns Lake Native Development Corp., which he said owns a sawmill that's presently empty but perhaps could be quickly revamped.

He also said the village might consider leveraging BC Hydro to come on aboard their 33-megawatt project with Western Bioenergy, building the facility just east of the Babine sawmill.

B.C. Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell and MLA John Rustad, who represents Nechako Lakes, both contacted the village to offer their assistance, Gerow said.

Forests Minister Steve Thomson was also in conversation throughout the day with Hampton Affiliates, said its CEO Steve Zika, who flew into the snow-coated village from Portland, Ore., on Saturday afternoon.

"We realize what an important mill it is to the community and it's important to Hampton," he said at the news conference.
He said the planer and motorized equipment portions of the operation were intact, but the lion's share, worth anywhere from $25 to $100 million, was gone.

"The bias, obviously, is to rebuild, who wouldn't want to? But until we get past the situation of our employees, there's just a lot of factors that go into that decision about whether to rebuild or not."

He noted the company would have to weigh the pine beetle problem and timber supply into the equation.

"We really can't make any comment on when we'll know, other than promising the community we'll be transparent."

Steve Hunt, director of Local 1-424 of the United Steelworkers, which represents mill workers, said the loss of the primary employer would affect nearly everyone in the community.

"Whether you're a worker there or a family member of a worker, it goes right down to people that work in restaurants or own restaurants or government employees, everybody. It's profound," he said.

He, too, was holding out for the prospect of reconstruction.

"There's an ample supply of fibre up there. You hope that they rebuild it and get people back to work. We hope that will happen very quickly."

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... .htm#70032

[Cumungala]

This is a terrible thing for a small town to have to deal with. Hopefully they can rebuild.