On the one year anniversary of the explosion and destruction of the Babine Forest Products Mill, hundreds gathered in Burns Lake at the Lakes District Secondary School for a memorial service in honour of fallen and injured mill workers.
Nineteen workers were injured in the Jan. 20, 2012, explosion. Two were killed; Carl Charlie and Robert Luggi never returned home from their shift.
Speakers included Burns Lake Mayor Luke Strimbold, Hampton Affiliates chief executive officer Steve Zika, members of ‘Sawmill B-Crew’, members of the Charlie and Luggi families, Carmen Williams, and Hampton Affiliates owner, David Hampton.
“Carl and Robert did not die in vain,” said Zika.
He was speaking of the increased awareness of special safety measures that need to be implemented in light of evidence that the dust of pine-beetle killed wood is uniquely hazardous.
He said that thanks to what has been learned, and at the cost of lives lost, the new Babine sawmill would be built to the highest modern safety standards. Mills across the continent, he added, have taken into account the increased risk of pine-beetle killed wood.
Zika did not gloss over the pain and loss brought about on Jan. 20, 2012.
“Not a day goes by where I don’t wake up in the morning, or in the middle of the night, and wonder if there was something that I could have done differently,” he said.
“I am truly sorry for not keeping our families safe.”
Zika asked for forgiveness from those hurt, and from the families of those hurt or killed, on that cold January evening.
Forgiveness was solemnly expressed by many family members, injured workers, and others who were involved in the explosion and the rescue effort.
“In my heart I forgive you,” Fabien Michell told Zika. “I forgive you on behalf of my family.”
But the uncertainty that remains surrounding the final report of findings into the cause or causes of the deadly explosion found expression in the testimony of some speakers.
WorkSafe B.C. had forwarded the long-awaited findings of its investigation into the causes of the explosion to Crown Counsel for consideration last November. The report had discovered violations of the workplace safety act (Workers Compensation Act), and because of the seriousness of the accident, it was sent to Crown Counsel for consideration.
None of those findings have been made public yet. Frustration and anger over lingering uncertainties, regarding the ultimate cause of, and responsibility for, the explosion were vehemently expressed.
Maureen Luggi described some of the rumours and allegations that have been brought to her attention from the very beginning of her terrible ordeal. She called for an end to these rumours through openness by all involved.
“Don’t sit on the report,” Maureen Luggi demanded. “Families are waiting to know what happened. We are looking for closure.”
Luggi described the unique pain of losing someone in terrible and unexpected circumstances.
“It’s a complicated grief,” she said. “The hardest thing for me as a mother was to see my children carry their father’s casket.”
David Hampton spoke last.
“To the families, I am so sorry,” he said.
Hampton described how fire safety had been ingrained into his head and work culture at his father’s side from a young age.
“In this case we didn’t go far enough [with fire safety],” he said. “We didn’t know how hazardous the dust would be. This should never have happened to Carl or Charlie.”