Investigators are trying to determine the cause of an unwieldy blaze that tore through a lumber mill in southern British Columbia, the third mill fire the province has seen this year.
Huge flames lit up the sky above Absolute Lumber Products mill in Abbotsford, B.C. early on Saturday morning as fire crews hurried to extinguish the blaze. Witnesses several kilometres away recalled seeing large plumes of smoke billowing into the air.
Before fire crews could douse the fire, Abbotsford Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Adams says they had to contend with a network of power lines that surrounded the facility.
"Once we got the power lines looked after by (BC Hydro), crews got in and started knocking it down," he told CTV British Columbia.
The lumber mill was closed when the blaze occurred and no one was injured.
However, Adams says the fire caused extensive damage to the facility.
"The building itself is probably a write-off," he said. "The actual equipment that they use for doing the millwork is on the outside. We were able to save that. Where they stored their forklifts and office supplies, that's where the fire was."
Though some supplies were salvaged, the mill owner's brother says the blaze has dealt a huge blow to the business that employs about a dozen people.
"We lost so much money there, so we lost everything," said Ramesh Sharma.
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the blaze.
The mill fire comes weeks after two similar incidents at other B.C. mills.
In January, a fiery explosion razed the Babine Forest Products mill in Burns Lake, killing two people. Four months later, two sawmill employees died when an explosion triggered at fire at the Lakeland mill in Prince George.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Michele Brunoro
