Prince George, B.C. – Crews continue work to get Canfor’s Polar sawmill at Bear Lake back up and running following a breach that caused the loss of water for the mill’s fire suppression protection.

On Friday Canfor cancelled the night shift at the mill after a breach in the dyke adjacent to the site that supplies water to the fire pond.  The discharged water eventually made its way across Highway 97, about two kilometers north of Bear Lake.

Canfor’s External Affairs and Communications Director, Corinne Stavness, says the mill was down Friday night and had not re-started on Saturday because it cannot operate without adequate fire protection.  She tells 250 News that crews have been working nonstop to refill the fire pond and test the fire suppression equipment adding “we won’t restart until this important system is functioning at 100%.

Stavness told us Friday night “the discharge from the dyke is pure rainwater and poses no risk to the public.”  Which raises the questions, how much water does the fire pond hold and where is the water coming from to refill it?

On Saturday evening she was hopeful the mill would be back up today, “but that of course is dependent on how the testing goes.”

It is not yet clear how many workers and how much production have been affected by the shutdown.