Fires Still Burning In British Columbia
The CBC covers another facit of the fires, Okanagan fire threatens forestry jobs
Hundreds of forestry jobs may have been lost as a result of the largest of three fires burning in B.C.’s Okanagan’s Valley, which destroyed thousands of truckloads of timber — and the damage is not finished yet.
The Terrace Mountain fire has been burning in a steep mountain area north of West Kelowna since Saturday, and firefighters say the rugged terrain has been impossible to attack from the ground and difficult to tackle from the air, even at the best of times.
After strong winds fanned the flames on Monday, the fire grew to 13 square kilometres [5 square miles] by some estimates, and firefighters say after three days, they still have only 20 per cent of the fire contained.
The industry was already beset by the US building bust which made the lumber prices drop like a rock. Add to that the plagues of drought and pine beetles, which made the fires more probable, and you have a recipe for hard times in the timber industry.
