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FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 Newsstand $1.75 incl. tax | Home Delivered 69c/day
Mill site of fatality
Deceased ID'd as Mika Saario, 44, ofPrince George
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
A worker was killed Wednesday morning at the Conifex lumber mill in Fort St. James.
The man was identified as Mika Saario, 44, a resident of Prince George.
Saario was an independent contractor in the latter stages of dismantling one of Conifex’s two planer machines, sources said. He was working in an area alone but with others nearby. When they came to get him for a coffee break, he was deceased, with a lit cutting torch still in hand.
“Preliminary information is that the worker was dismantling an elevated catwalk approximately 12 feet by 20 feet. As he cut some of the supporting elements, the remaining supports buckled and fell onto the worker,” said Donna Freeman, spokeswoman for WorkSafeBC.
“Our officers are in the ‘information-gathering’ phase of the investigation and they will determine facts and eventually the cause of the incident.”
Police were initially called to the scene as well, getting the emergency alert at about 11:15 a.m. North District RCMP spokeswoman Const. Lesley Smith said RCMP “determined that foul play is not a factor” and therefore handed the investigation over to the BC Coroners Service and WorkSafeBC.
The BC Coroners Service is conducting its own investigation, which will include an autopsy scheduled for today in Prince George.
Conifex was contacted to obtain comment, but no one from the lumber company responded by deadline.
Conifex has corporate offices in Vancouver and Prince George with mills in Fort St. James and Mackenzie. Conifex Timber reported a net loss of $6.5 million in its first quarter of 2012 and a net loss of $7.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2011. This incident represents the sixth person killed so far this year while working inside a Prince George-area sawmill.
Pulp deal in works
Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff
Canfor’s combined pulp operations have new deals tentatively in place with unionized staff.
The members of Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) Union, Bill Hickey Local 603 are employed at the company’s Northwood facility.
They also run the paper machine at the PG Pulp and Paper operation.
Meanwhile the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada (PPWC) Local 9 has jurisdiction over the pulp aspect of PG Pulp and Paper’s activities, and at the Intercontinental Pulp facility next door. On Tuesday they wrapped up a month of negotiations with a draft worthy of membership examination, said their officials.
Both deals are proposing a five-year pact.
— see AGREEMENT, page 3
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— Carly Perison bounces Alexis, nine months, during a song at Fort George Park on Thursday. The pair were
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For more pictures, turn to page 5.
Collision victim named
Citizen staff
A young Alberta man has been identified as the person who died in Wednesday’s head-on collision east of Prince George.
Benjamin Patrick Brown, 21, of Edmonton was pronounced dead at the scene, police said Thursday morning.
Brown was behind the wheel of an eastbound Ford Mustang convertible that drifted across the centre line on Highway 16 and collided with an eastbound Chevrolet pickup truck about 40 kilometres east of the city near Tabor Mountain.
Three other people - the passenger in the Mustang and the driver and passenger in the pickup truck - were transported to University Hospital of Northern BC with varying injuries.
All three injured occupants are in good
condition and two have been released from the hospital, RCMP regional traffic services Staff Sgt. Pat McTiernan said Thursday morning.
The collision occurred shortly before 8 a.m. and closed the stretch of highway for several hours before it was completely reopened by mid-afternoon Wednesday.
The car was on fire when police and emergency services arrived.
A lack of available fire response meant police were forced to let the vehicle burn itself out, delaying the investigation and recovery, McTiernan said.
The vehicle continued to smolder when tow trucks arrived hours after the crash.
McTiernan is asking anyone who witnessed the collision to call the traffic services unit at 250-649-4004.
A Russian-made Antonov-124 is set to land in Prince George today.
I WAS IN THE SHOW
An encounter with Kevin Costner
A&E 25
Giant plane still on course for P.G.
Citizen staff
The arrival of the world’s third largest model of cargo aircraft remains scheduled for 11 a.m. today, Prince George Airport Authority spokeswoman Lindsay Cotter said Thursday.
A Russian-made Antonov-124 will touch down to pick up seven helicopters. It will then fly to Angola where the choppers will be used to transport officials to outlying areas during the country’s national
election at the end of August.
The plane’s arrival is expected to draw a large number of aviation enthusiasts and RCMP will be out controlling traffic on the Old Cariboo Highway and local roads.
The public is asked to park at the baseball diamonds off of Old Cariboo Highway to help lower congestion, Cotter said. She also urged people to carpool. Any last-minute changes in the arrival time will be posted at www.facebook.com/FlyYXS.
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