Flames from Lakeland’s sawmill soar into the night sky

Prince George, BC – What Prince George Fire Rescue Chief John Lane has described as a ‘catastrophic’ explosion at Lakeland Mills, required almost half of the department’s force of 105 firefighters to battle on Monday evening.

Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Lane detailed the initial trouble dispatchers had in determining just where in the city the massive blaze was burning.  "When fires of this size occur, they often look very close to where you are depending on where you’re looking from," says the fire chief.

"One caller said the Ramada was on fire, one caller said an apartment building was on fire and many of these calls came in within the first minute (after the blast at 9:38pm)." (Photo at right courtesy of Chris Leboe, click to watch slideshow)

"And then someone called and said that it’s Lakeland Mills – we were able to actually ascertain that was, in fact, the location, so our initial first alarm response to that is two engines, the ladder, our rescue truck and our assistant chief."

Lane added Fire Rescue would typically send a third engine as well, but, in this particular case, one caller did insist that a downtown apartment building was on fire, as well.  The fourth engine quickly determined at the apartment that it had been ‘an illusion’ created by the mill fire and diverted to Lakeland.

"It was immediately clear this was going to be a major incident," said Lane.  The initial response of 19 fire fighters was bolsterd by another 16 or 18 fire fighters.  "And then, within a very short time period, it became evident we would need even more help, so we called out approximately an additional 20 fire fighters.  So, at the scene, we likely had a maximum of 50 fire fighters at any one time."

In addition, Lane said, "We had our two spare apparatus staffed and in place to respond to the needs of the rest of the city."

As of yesterday afternoon, the fire continued to smolder in stacked lumber in the sorter on the western edge of the sawmill building, where it’s stacked inside metal columns. (Click on photo at right for photos from mill scene yesterday)

Lane says fire fighters will work to extinguish the remainder of the fire and will be working hand-in-hand with the RCMP, Coroners Service, and WorkSafe BC to investigate the cause of the blast and ensuing inferno.

Photo below shows the Lakeland Mills operation as it stood before Monday night’s devastating event  Opinion250 file photo