A massive blaze near Maple Ridge ripped through and destroyed a cedar mill early Sunday morning.
The fire at the Waldun Forest Products mill in Ruskin, located at 287th Street near the Lougheed Highway, began shortly after midnight. Within minutes the entire mill was engulfed in flames that at times shot up 30 metres in the air.
Twelve hours after the blaze began, firefighters continued to douse hotspots.
The mill’s owner, Kirk Nagy, told CTV News about 50 to 60 people are now unemployed. He said it’s likely the family-owned business will be rebuilt, but he is not completely certain it will happen.
“I've learned over last five years that there are things out of your control, and I used to be more liberal with the guarantees,” Nagy said.
In 1985, a blaze tore through Waldun Forest Products mill. Workers returned back to the job within weeks.
Nagy was very emotional about the loss of the mill, particularly because of how it will affect the workers.
"We have crew meetings, I tell them all the time they’re… I say, the best crew in the industry. They’re great guys,” he said.
Mill workers dropped by the site Sunday to survey the devastating damage that has left many of them wondering what they will do next.
Jasveer Dhaliwal, who worked at the cedar mill for 22 years, considered it a second home.
"I don't know what I’m going to do now,” he said. "It's not like (a) mill burning; it's like my house as well."
A security guard initially spotted the blaze and said it spread quickly through the mill’s operations.
Some workers believe the fire moved fast because the cedar was dry due to the recent hot, dry weather in the area.
WorkSafeBC and fire officials are investigating the cause of the fire, which isn’t considered suspicious.
The facility wasn’t operating when the blaze began and no one was injured.
This year, four people were killed in mill fires in Burns Lake and Prince George.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Bhinder Sajan
