(l-r) Worksafe BC’s Todd McDonald, Northern Health’s Director of Communications Steve Raper, RCMP Superintendent Eric Stubbs, Fire Chief John Lane at podium, Mayor Shari Green, RCMP Media Relations Officer Craig Douglass

Prince George, BC – It was a matter of sawmill workers saving their injured colleagues in what’s being described as a ‘catastrophic’ explosion and fire at Lakeland Mills last night that claimed one life and severely injured 10 others.

Speaking at a news conference this afternoon, Prince George Fire Rescue Chief, John Lane, says, "Fellow workers carried, dragged, and assisted those folks that couldn’t move or were less mobile out – so they’re truly the heroes of this incident."

Lane says the intensity of the blaze burning at the sawmill was so great when firefighters arrived on-scene, going into the building was simply not possible as it was being consumed by flame.

Most of the injured gathered at the fire trucks.  Lane says some of the workers were found on the periphery of the property and were brought to the triage location.  He says accounting for all 24 employees in the sawmill was clouded for an approximately 30-minute window, as some were transported to hospital in private vehicles. 

For the rest of the night, 50 firefighters – almost half of the entire department – focused on containing the volatile blaze to the sawmill.  Chief Lane says it was a very hot, very concentrated blaze with a lot of flammable hydraulic fuel on-site.  He says there were a number of secondary explosions as cylinders of pressurized gas burst.

"We have a debris field that goes at least 400-metres from the eastern edge of the building," says Lane.  "All the walls of the sawmill have been blown out, less so on the south and west side, but on the north and east the wall structures have been completely blown out.

Lane says, going forward, fire fighters will work to extinguish the remainder of the fire smoldering in stacked lumber on the west side of the building.  "Once the scene is essentially released by the RCMP and the coroner, then we’ll work hand-in-hand with our colleagues from WorksafeBC to establish the fire cause determination."

"Worksafe BC is beginning the early stages of our investigation right now," says Director for Interior and North, Todd McDonald.  "We have investigators en route from Vancouver and (are) utilizing local resources right now."

McDonald says Worksafe reps have already been dispatched into UHNBC, as well as VGH and Royal Jubilee, and will be attending the hospital in Edmonton as well to get the injured workers’ claims registered and processed as soon as possible.

As for a fire that occurred back at Lakeland Mills in early February, McDonald says Worksafe did attend the mill immediately after that fire.  "Right now, we’re in the very early stages of the investigation and just pulling together the documentation and the information that we have at our end."

He says, "We’ll be in a position, I think, to release more information on our inspectional history at that mill in the coming days."

Due to safety concerns over the integrity of the mill’s steel super-structure, the fire chief anticipates bringing in an engineer first, before investigators begin digging through the debris.  Lane says they may get onto the property by Thursday or Friday, but emphasizes there is no rush.  "The most important thing is that we do it methodically, safely, and in coordination with our partners to ensure that all other aspects of the investigation are looked after and considered, specifically the RCMP and Coroner’s Service."

News of the victim’s name broke during the conference, and Prince George Mayor Shari Green is offering her condolences to the family of 43-year-old Alan Little.  "I didn’t know him personally," says Green.  "But a valued member of the Lakeland family and a valued member of this community and our hearts and prayers go out to his family today."

Earlier Green had refused to speculate on what the devastation at Lakeland Mills means for the Prince George economy.  "Every job is an important job and today we will worry about the families and in the days to come we will worry about what the future looks like," she says.  "But today we’re focused on the families."

There was also a question about the possibility another injured worker had succumbed to their injuries this afternoon.  Both Northern Health and the United Steelworkers Union say that is not the case.