Gorman Bros. Mill, a sawmill near Kelowna, British Columbia, narrowly escaped the Glenrosa forest fire this week.

Unfortunately the family who owns and operates the sawmill lost two of their family homes and all of their possessions in the fire.

Mary Tracey and her brother Ron Gorman both lost their homes. Mary told the media they had all combustible material cleared within 2 hectares of their house because they were well aware of the forest fire hazard. They had an evacuation list available so they could leave in a hurry, but unfortunately the family was not home when the fire started and lost everything.

Ron Gorman stood on his roof and hosed down his house, but it was not enough to keep back the flames.

The Gorman family has a long history in the region. The siblings’ grandfather was born in West Kelowna, and their father Ross and his brother John founded the Gorman Bros. sawmill in 1951. Ron Gorman is CEO of the mill, and Doug Gorman, 51, is the project manager.

The mill was saved from the fires by its workers. The 15 to 20 employees who were on shift at the mill when the fire rolled towards it Saturday afternoon were joined by another 15 to 20 workers who showed up to help out. Together, they managed to put out a roof that caught fire and then spent the rest of night putting out spot fires and monitoring for sparks.

The mill manager, Nick Arkle, hopes to be able to resume lumber deliveries this week and hopes by next week the mill can resume normal operations.

Read more:
West Kelowna fires devastate prominent local family (The Province)
Gorman’s Mill ready to get back to business (Kelowna.com)