Don Engelsjord says his River Road warehouse was flooded by the ice jam on the Nechako River during December and now, this fire at his Great Street Warehouse.

 

“No one will lose their jobs” says Don, “When we had the flooding at the other site, we transferred everyone to this warehouse, and now we’ll do the reverse.”

 

This is the second time this particular warehouse has been hit by flames as a fire 14 years ago burned a corner of the warehouse damaging 14 thousand square feet. The price tag for that fire was three million dollars. The current fire has damaged twice the space, and of course there is inflation, so Don is expecting this blaze to cost so much more.

 

MDF Fiber board stored in the warehouse is the fuel for this blaze. “Every time the firefighters get the upper hand, the wind comes up and fans the flames” says Engelsjord.

 

The embers have drifted all over the City. Some have landed as far as First Avenue.

 

The City remains under a state of local emergency.

 

As for the North Central Plywood plant, workers from that Canfor operation are being briefed about their future this hour. There are nearly 300 people employed at the North Central Plywood.

 

Canfor spokesman, Lee Coonfer, says no decision will be made on the future of the mill for at least a couple of weeks.