By Steve Hubrecht
A Thursday night fire in Brisco burned part of the local mill to the ground.
The mill, one of the major landmarks and employers in the community, caught fire some time during the evening of November 7.
The flames engulfed the mill’s treatment plant and its shop, destroying both. Although the fire did subside as the night wore on, it was still burning on Friday, Nov. 8.
The cause of the blaze is unknown, but will be investigated by the provincial Office of the Fire Commissioner.
Brisco lies outside of the Edgewater fire protection service area, meaning the Edgewater fire crew (and other Columbia Valley fire crews) were not allowed to attend the blaze. The RCMP came to the scene to ensure public safety and to monitor the situation.
No one was hurt in the fire, and the other buildings that are part of the mill were far enough away that the flames did not spread to them.
The mill is part of Brisco Wood Preservers Ltd., which makes wooden utility and telephone poles for clients across western Canada, including BC Hydro. Brisco Wood Preserves Ltd. employs 22 people, and five or six of them will likely be out of work until the company can rebuild the treatment plant. The other employees will continue to work in the pressing building and the company’s offices that escaped the fire, as well as in other capacities.
“We don’t know how it started,” Brisco Wood Preservers Ltd. operations superintendent Ken Oler told the Pioneer. Oler was called at 11 p.m. on Thursday and guesses the fire likely started about two hours before that.
“It is still currently burning,” said Oler. “It’s simmered down a lot. It’s nothing crazy to look at right now, but it is still going. It’s basically burning itself out now.”
The company will continue its operations, but will send logs to another of its treatment plants in Edson, Alberta (near Hinton). The logs will be brought back to Brisco and then sent off to their final destinations.
Oler noted there would be a lot of extra freight costs involved in that arrangement, but at this early stage it is hard to tell exactly what the overall cost to the business will be.
Brisco Wood Preservers Ltd. intends to re-build the treatment plant as soon as it can.
“Right now that’s what we plan to do. It’s all pretty new, so we need to figure it out. We’ll have to navigate the insurance. But that’s the initial plan today, to re-build,” said Oler.
Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) Area G director Roberta Schnider offered her support to all those affected, saying “there are no words to adequately convey the impact of this fire.”
Schnider told the Pioneer that the mill was a key part of the identity of Brisco. “It’s been there as long as I can remember, when I was growing up. There’s never been a Brisco without a mill in my lifetime.”
Those affected include not just the people who worked directly at the mill, but the many who work in related industries, such as the forestry sector, and others involved in getting the logs to the mill.
“It’s about supporting community. It’s devastating when a fire like this happens,” Schnider said. “Brisco doesn’t have a lot of large economic drivers. This was one of them. We will do whatever we can to support them (Brisco Wood Preservers Ltd.) and to support the community.”
Schnider has heard concerns from residents about potential impacts to the Columbia River Wetlands (near the mill) and about the potential for chemicals used to treat the wood poles to affect air quality. The Pioneer heard similar concerns from the public.
“Unfortunately we won’t have a sense of that until we get some reporting back,” explained Schnider, adding the provincial Ministry of Environment will be the agency to examine those potential impacts, and that such an investigation will take time.
“While we don’t know what is ahead, I do know the incredible heart and sense of community in Area G, and I have no doubt we will rise up in support of all those who’ve been impacted in whatever way we can in the days and weeks to come,” said Schnider.
