22 employees of the Lakeland Mills planer in Prince George, British Columbia put in their first shift back at work yesterday since the explosion and fire on April 23 destroyed the sawmill killing 2 employees.

The planer mill has been restarted to work through the inventory on site. It is estimated that there will be about 6 weeks of work.

The workers were eager to return to work yesterday.  Keith Ward, an employee of the company for 35 years said, “Overall, the morale was good,  good spirits.  People are looking forward to coming back.”  But he added they are still trying to get through the initial “shock and awe of what happened.”

Greg Stewart, President of Sinclar Group Forest Products that owns the mill, said having the planer mill back up and running is bittersweet. “Obviously thoughts and memories of Glen(Roche) and Al (Little)  are front and centre and obviously the employees who remain injured and are recovering continue to be at the forefront of our mind.  The sweet part of this is that we are getting back to work and we are doing what we can do best in this situation and that is pushing forward and doing what the industry regards as our sweet spot and that’s producing lumber.”

Read more:
Lakeland Planer Workers Put in First Shift (Opinion 250 News)