[quote][img]http://www.vancouversun.com/6507159.bin?size=620x400s[/img]
A massive explosion and fire has rocked another sawmill in northern B.C.About 9:45 p.m. Monday, an explosion tore through the Lakeland Mills sawmill in Prince George, reported RCMP.The Northern Health Authority is reporting there have been 23 injuries.One dozen patients have already been transported by ambulance to the University Hospital of Northern B.C., with an additional 11 patients on the way.No status was immediately available on the injured workers.It’s not clear at this point if anyone is missing, said RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass, who was at the scene of the fire.The explosion took place during the start of a lunch break, so a head count is still underway, said Douglass.He said it appeared the fire was contained to one large building. Flames were as high as 45 feet, and huge clouds of black and white smoke were streaming from the fire, he said.It looks as if the building would burn to the ground, said Douglass.United Steelworker local 1-424 representative Brian O’Rourke said more than anything he hoped there were no lives lost.O’Rourke, who was in Vancouver Monday night, was in contact with union officials on the ground in Prince George.“This is just crazy. We go for how many years with nothing, and then — bang, bang,” he said, referring to a sawmill explosion and fire three months ago at Babine Forest Products that killed two men and injured 19 others.That sawmill was located in Burns Lake, about 225 kilometres west of Prince George.
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My best friends dad owns this mill, we were called in right when it happened with no idea what to expect and when we showed up about 15 minutes after the first explosion the whole mill had already been engulfed in flames. From what i'm hearing there's 9 people in critical condition in the hospital and 20+ on the way to the hospital right now. I'll try to keep you guys updated.
There are still several explosions going off inside the mill, they're a lot smaller than the initial explosion that started it though. Everyone's been evacuated by now and they're keeping the fire contained in one area
[img]http://www.opinion250.com/images/LakelandFire2.jpg[/img]
UPDATE: Looks like everyone in the mill at the time is accounted for, but there are still several people in critical condition who may be transferred to more capable hospitals. Many people have severe burns and smoke inhalation
I'd guess sawdust met a spark. Here's hoping they get it put out before any more damage is done.
SNIP
I thought the title said Prince George killed by Mill Explosion.
Another update, they're saying it will take upwards of 24 hours to put out the fire due to the contents inside of the mill and they won't be investigating the cause quite yet because there are still a few people who are unaccounted for (contrary to prior knowledge). This is the 3rd Mill fire in the Prince George area in 4 years, the other 2 were both caused by sawdust congestion and then suddenly exploding
This happens too often around here :(
[quote][B]Five people are unaccounted for[/B] in the flames of Lakeland Mills.
Prince George Fire Rescue Service could do nothing to fight the fire, according to fire chief John Lane, but "we are containing it."
Their efforts spared the planer mill next to the blast.[/quote]
[url=http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20120423/PRINCEGEORGE0101/304239986/-1/princegeorge/five-from-fire-unaccounted-for/]Source[/url]
Man,this is the second one [i]this year.[/i]
[QUOTE=Mitsudigi;35697846]This happens too often around here :(
[url=http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/article/20120423/PRINCEGEORGE0101/304239986/-1/princegeorge/five-from-fire-unaccounted-for/]Source[/url][/QUOTE]
They've all been accounted for now, but there are still a few people in critical condition (i think at least 7 people). When we were called to see what had happened initially on our way down about 5 blocks out we started seeing houses and buildings with broken windows because of the explosions, it must have been a pretty decent one. People were also saying they felt it as far as foot hills which is 25 blocks away. I'm not sure if it's out yet, my friend and I are just going down there now to check the damage while his dad spent all night trying to figure out how much of his money was just burnt down to the ground
[editline]24th April 2012[/editline]
High res picture from the fire last night taken across the river
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/e9uqc.jpg[/IMG]
[editline]24th April 2012[/editline]
Further updates: One person has died from their injuries, 5 more are being flown to vancouver and one to edmonton in hopes that they can be taken care of. Hope that they're all okay
Spoke to my friends father, apparently they just finished expanding the mill and in the new section they added some new energy unit meant to save them money and it was also one of the first used in these mills. Some people are saying that could have exploded, it was quite a large explosion (large enough to kill a man and possible a few more at this point) so they aren't sure if it would have been from sawdust or something else
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