Decision on future of devastated Burns Lake, B.C., sawmill to be announced

BURNS LAKE, B.C. – Nearly eight months after a deadly explosion and fire ripped through a sawmill in Burns Lake, B.C., the community will learn if its largest employer will be rebuilt.

Mill owner Hampton Affiliates announces its plans for the Babine Forest Products mill during a news conference today in Burns Lake.

Last month a legislative committee examining the timber supply reported there is enough wood around the north-central B.C. town to support restarting the mill.

Hampton Affiliates has said it needs at least one million cubic metres of wood annually to justify rebuilding, but if the work proceeds, a new mill could be operating as early as 2014.

About 4,000 people live in Burns Lake and roughly 250 area residents worked at the mill before it was levelled by the January 20 blast.

Two men died and 19 others suffered various injuries, including severe burns.