An area of AJ Forest Products caught fire just past midnight and is now out.
The general manager of the sawmill, Todd Kion, told The Chief that the fire is currently under investigation by the insurance company.
“We're still working to find out what the cause was,” said Kion. “Nobody was hurt, which is the most important thing.”
He added he was grateful for the support that moved into action to put out the fire.“We're thankful for the fire department and Cheekye Ranch. They were supplying us with water here, as well. And the Squamish utilities, they helped us out as well,” said Kion.
“If it wasn't for that group of people, the damage could have been a lot worse.”Harm Oostindie, who lives at Cheekye Ranch, said he was woken up at about 1:30 a.m. to see if he could offer assistance.
“When I got over there, they just welcomed me with open arms because they didn't have any water,” he said.“They had a tanker going back and forth to Don Ross to get their water. So, we were coming from Cheekye Ranch and brought water from there.”
Oostindie said that until about 5 a.m. he and a few other people helped bring about four loads of water in from Cheekye Ranch. At that point, Oostindie said he was told that they had enough water to put the fire out.
Although Kion said he couldn’t place an exact dollar figure on the damage, he estimated it could be in the millions. However, he also said that they were already rebuilding.“Our goal is to get this mill back up and running as soon as possible for employees and customers,” said Kion. “I'm not sure of the timeline, but it's going to be a bit. It’s going to take a while.”
“But, our goal is to try to keep our people working.”
In an emailed statement to The Chief, the District of Squamish confirmed that the fire department responded to the call around 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 31. Additionally, the District said that obtaining water to douse the fire proved difficult because of its location in the valley.“This area is not serviced by the District's municipal water system and therefore not protected by fire hydrant. For that reason, fire suppression was a challenge,” reads the statement.
“Fire fighting efforts were greatly enhanced by neighbours who were able to provide a large portable water tank, and Squamish Fire Rescue wishes to express appreciation to those who lent a hand.”The District said that crews remained on scene until about 10 a.m. and confirmed that no injuries were reported.
