‘My first thought was Fort McMurray’ Lumber business owner recalls Delta fire evacuation
Posted July 4, 2016 4:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
DELTA (NEWS 1130) – Leslie Forest Products owner Dave Sangera watched the smoke and flames inch closer to the piles of wood in his lumber yard this morning.
The business owner was one of several along Progress Way who were forced to shutter their shops and evacuate because of the encroaching Burns Bog fire in Delta.
“My first thought was Fort McMurray, just the way everything was just moving so fast and out of control,” Sangera says.
He says it took police a couple tries to get him to evacuate because he and the workers wanted to douse the wood in water. Fire crews helped them before they quickly left the area.
“I just didn’t feel good about just taking off until I knew things were under control at our plant,” he says. “We’re so happy that highway 17 is there now because if it wasn’t, the bog was right up to our wood,” he says.
The Burns Bog fire is still around 78 hectares large, but fire crews say it is 50 per cent contained. Highway 17 remains closed from Highway 99 to Highway 91. The route is being used as an access route for first-responders. It’s expected to be closed at least until Friday.
Sangera says everyone is at home waiting for good news, and they hope they can get back to work on Tuesday.
