Update: Mill Near Babine Sawmill Tragedy to Reopen
Update: Mill Near Babine Sawmill Tragedy to Reopen

Update: Mill Near Babine Sawmill Tragedy to ReopenBURNS LAKE, BC - Sheraton Holdings Ltd. said it will reopen its sawmill next month in the same remote community that experienced a devastating mill explosion and fire last month that killed two workers and severely injured several others.

Sheraton's sawmill closed in December 2010 due to the sluggish construction market. It produces specialty wood products for domestic consumption and export. The facility, owned by Comfor Management Services, will create up to nine jobs, according to Vanderhoof Omineca Express.

Babine Forest Products Update
Meanwhile, Hampton Affilliates of Portland, OR, owner of the destroyed Babine Froest Products sawmill, issued an update on Friday noting that two workers remain hospitalized for injuries sustained in the Jan. 20 accident.

In addition, Hampton Affiliates said a Reconciliation Ceremony iis being planned for the two employees who died, more than $250,000 in donations have been received for the Burns Lake Tragedy Fund and a food bank has been established to aid families of out of work Babine Forest Products employees.

More than 30 companies were represented, including Sheraton Holdings, Canfor and West Fraser, in a recent job fair, in which some 300 Babine Forest Product workers and others attended.

Hampton has not committed to rebuilding the sawmill. However, the company said members of its senior management are at the Burns Lake site to assist in the investigation and "to help our employees and their families and to develop a timber supply scenario that will lead to the sawmill being rebuilt." 

 

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