Warning second B.C. sawmill could blow failed to prompt preventative steps

VANCOUVER – An anonymous caller warned B.C.’s workers safety agency that dangerous wood dust levels would lead a sawmill in Prince George to be the next mill that exploded.

A report by WorkSafeBC notes the call as one of a series of incidents that foreshadowed the massive blast that killed two and injured 22 others at the Lakeland sawmill two years ago.

The investigative report, which was completed in late January and released this week, found the tragedy was preventable.

It found that one of its own officers quickly looked into a whistleblower’s concerns about excessive sawdust buildup, but did not issue any violation orders to the company.

On Monday, the province’s criminal justice branch said it would not be laying charges against the company because a conviction was unlikely.

The Lakeland mill was destroyed in April 2012 by an explosion and fire, fuelled by wood dust, much in the same way the mill in Burns Lake was flattened only four months earlier.