HIGH PRAIRIE, Alberta -- Fire damage and repair options are still being evaluated at the Tolko High Prairie oriented strand board facility, and it is anticipated that it will take several weeks to determine the detailed repair plans and the timing for a restart. 

Alberta Occupational Health and Safety approved a phased approach to accessing Tolko’s High Prairie site following the fire on May 20, 2022. On May 26, tradespeople started restoring power to areas that are unrestricted, and on May 30 operations teams were able to start clean-up in unrestricted areas.

During the downtime, the mill is shipping out its existing products and Tolko will re-direct incoming logs from High Prairie to its Athabasca division near Slave Lake, Alberta.

“It’s a difficult situation for Tolko’s employees and the community,” said Fred Chinn, Tolko’s Vice President, Strand Based Business. “Work has started on how we can minimize the impact of lost time on people and their families. We want to assure everyone that we will soon put a recovery plan in place that will allow us to get High Prairie back up and operational.”