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Future of significant Malakwa employer uncertain after mill fire

Click to play video: 'Malakwa mill fire leaves thirty jobs in limbo'
Malakwa mill fire leaves thirty jobs in limbo
Malakwa mill fire leaves thirty jobs in limbo – Mar 10, 2017

Firefighters spent hours Thursday dousing a major Malakwa mill fire in challenging winter conditions, but the struggle to put out the blaze may only be the beginning of the problems created by the flames.

The Elite Forest Products facility was about to reopen for the season, but the fire has now put around thirty jobs in limbo as mill officials try to figure out how to move forward.

At this point the future of the business is unclear.

Although one area of the facility looks like a mess of twisted metal and charred debris, other parts of the mill, including the planer and log sorter, were saved.

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The local regional district area director said it is bad news for those in the area who, before the fire, had been expecting to work at the mill when it reopened this spring.

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“[The mill reopening] would have meant jobs for the community. We haven’t had a lot of positive employment opportunities in the area for a while so anything that happens is really good. So this opportunity is now lost and it will be devastating for the community,” Columbia Shuswap Regional District director Rhona Martin said.

Martin said the loss of a seasonal job would be a big blow to workers nearing retirement who can’t easily move to find new employment.

“If the fellows that work there don’t get the hours in, then they don’t get EI. So they are looking at a year [or] a year-and-a-half of hardship,” said Martin.

The mill’s manager said by the middle of next week he will have a better idea of what the future holds for the now partially gutted facility.

Firefighters spray hot spots the day after a major blaze at the Elite Forest Products mill in Malakwa. Megan Turcato / Global News

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