- / -
                                                    THE PRINCE GEORGE
                                                   CITIZEN
  &aent&
SIMPLY THE BEST:TINA TURNER TRIBUTE
     />(/ Jumr y(^a/'&Aa/l Saturday March 22, 2014 • Dinner and a Show at the Prince George Ramada
     ' S                                FOR INFORMATION CALL 250-563-0055
www.pgcitizen.ca
THE
PRINCE
GEORGE
CITIZEN
 FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014
Newsstand $1.70 incl. tax | Home Delivered 70c/day
 Families and workers caught in Burns Lake sawmill blast plead for inquiry
  Dirk MEISSNER
  The Canadian Press
  VICTORIA — Injured workers and family members of those caught in the fireball that flattened a sawmill in northern British Columbia two years ago travelled to Victoria on Thursday with an emotional plea for a public inquiry.
    They called on Premier Christy Clark to call an independent inquiry into the explosion at a mill in Burns Lake which killed two workers and injured 20 others in January 2012.
    Kenny Michell, now in a wheelchair, his face partially melted, said he wants to know what really happened.
    “I want justice done for me,” he told reporters. “I want justice done for Carl, Robert and the rest of the injured workers. It’s hard to talk about this. I still have nightmares. I still have to use sleeping pills. Sometimes it doesn’t work.”
    Carl Charlie, 42, and Robert Luggi Jr., 45, were killed.
    Michell said God helped him out of the inferno that melted the skin off his body.
    “I was all on fours, like this,” he said, gesturing. “I looked out and I yelled out to God, ‘Turn it off.’ I had no other choice and nowhere to go, fire everywhere, I was literally burning. As soon as I said that, the flames went back into
  the basement.
    “People won’t believe it, but it happened.”
    Reports by WorkSafeBC, which is responsible for enforcing workplace safety laws, and the B.C.
  Safety Authority concluded, in part, that the blast could have been prevented if the sawmill had taken measures to control sawdust generated by milling beetle-killed wood.
    The mill’s owner, Babine Forest Products, has said there was no way it could have known about the hazards linked to the combustible sawdust. The company said it took steps to control the sawdust.
    In January, Crown prosecutors announced there would be no charges in connection with the blast, partially because an investigation by WorkSafeBC was flawed.
    The province’s criminal justice branch said crucial evidenced gathered during the investigation wouldn’t be admissible in court.
    In the legislature, Premier Christy Clark ruled out a public inquiry. She said the government has already identified the problems with the WorkSafe BC investigation and ordered changes.
                                                        I looked out and I yelled out to God,
                                                        ‘Turn it off.’I had no other choice and nowhere to go...
                                                           — Kenny Michell
    “In looking back through the investigation to see what went wrong, WorkSafeBC came up short,” said Clark. “And that’s why we’ve ordered changes at WorkSafeBC, that they happen immediately and urgently.” Clark’s deputy minister examined the WorkSafe BC investigation and made a series of recommendations in a report released last month. The premier then appointed a Vancouver lawyer to work with the agency and the criminal justice branch to ensure the recommendations are implemented.
    That doesn’t go far enough for Maureen Luggi, whose husband died in the explosion.
    She said her husband knew something was wrong, because he sent her a text message just minutes before the blast.
    “And it said, ‘Please pray for me, I’m going to check something out,’ and at 10 after eight,
 I understand that Babine Forest Products exploded.”
    Luggi, and others at the news conference, wondered how the mill was even allowed to operate when the water lines were frozen
 in temperatures dipping below minus 40.
   “I would like justice. I want transparency. I want accountability,” said Luggi.
   “All of this evidence that the Crown looked at, I want to know what’s in it. I want the workers to speak at a public, independent inquiry. I want the truth to come out.”
   Labour Minister Shirley Bond said most sawmill owners in the province have changed their practices and at-risk mills have been shut down over safety issues.
   However, NDP Leader Adrian Dix told the legislature safety is still a concern in B.C.’s mills.
   “Two years after the accident, we find 42 per cent of the mills haven’t been in compliance,” said Dix.
   A few months after the explosion, in April 2012, an explosion at the Lakeland sawmill in Prince George killed Alan Little, 43 and Glen Roche, 46.
   Roche’s wife, Rhonda, told reporters the past two years have been the hardest of her life and finding answers would help her heal.
   “The families impacted at Babine Forest Products and Lakeland Mills need accountability for what has happened to our loved ones. Maybe then we’ll be able to heal and get the closure that I think we all deserve.”
   A coroner’s inquest has been called into the deaths at the Burns Lake mill.
Museum presents gift that keeps on giving
Charelle EVELYN Citizen staff cevelyn@pgcitizen. ca
  The Exploration Place is offering Prince George residents the opportunity to participate in creating the ultimate scrapbook.
  On Thursday, the city’s 99th birthday, museum CEO Tracy Ca-logheros unveiled the organization’s newest version of its online
database. It now has the ability to share records on social media and leave comments about the records on the museum’s website (www.theexplorationplace.com).
  “It’s a tough thing to explain,” said Calogheros. “The gist of it is, it’s a Facebook page for the museum world - but we get to keep all the data.”
  Calling it a 100th birthday pres-
ent to the city, Calogheros said the idea was born out of a request from a Prince George 100th anniversary committee request to create a social media outlet for the community to share their memories and information.
 “We didn’t want to have the community spend all this time thinking about the past and telling us their stories only to have to
transcribe it all from a Facebook page,” Calogheros said.
  “So once we got talking about it we thought, well we’ve already got this great database the community can search. It’s online, why don’t we see if there’s some way that we can make that more user friendly for the next millennium.”
                                                                                                                                                            — see DATABASE, page 3
    Prince George will be hit with freezing rain starting this afternoon, Environment Canada is warning, as the local climate transitions to warmer weather.
    A strong Pacific frontal system will move into B.C.’s central interior bringing in precipitation while the cold Arctic air that has dominated the weather pattern for the last several weeks will remain in place at the surface.
    As a result, snow and possibly freezing rain are expected, Environment Canada said Thursday, which should give way to rain on Saturday as the temperature rises above freezing.
    A high of + 1 C is forecast for Friday, rising to +4 C on Saturday and +6 C on Sunday with chances of showers on both days. From there, the temperature is expected to progress to + 10 C with a mix of sun and cloud by Wednesday.
Booze coming to grocery store shelves
Dirk MEISSNER
The Canadian Press
  VICTORIA - British Columbians will soon be able to buy wine and beer at the same grocery store where they pick up their eggs and bread.
  Attorney General Suzanne Anton introduced amendments to B.C.’s Liquor Control and Licensing Act on Thursday that reforms and modernizes the province’s outdated liquor rules.
  The legislation results from the Liberal government’s year-long liquor policy review that produced 73 recommendations, of which the government said it accepted every one.
  Thursday’s legislation will implement 15 of the 73 recommendations, including a model to allow alcohol sales in grocery stores due by next winter.
  “Our government will be adopting a unique and flexible framework for liquor sales in grocery stores,” Anton said at a news conference prior to introducing the amendments in the legislature.
  “Our two-part model is one that will bring convenience and selection, something that British Columbians told us that they are looking for,” she said. “The model comes with built it safeguards, keeping with our commitment to protect health and public safety and to make sure our minors don’t have easy access to alcohol.”
                                                                                                                                                            — see ALCOHOL, page 3
PRINCE GEORGE W
#
                                                               —JEUX DU—
                                                               CANADA
                                                               — GAMES— 2 0 15
OFFICIAL MEDIA PARTNER
Today's Weather
      ^ - Hi+T Low -1°
      See page 2 for more details and short-term forecasts
ANNIE'S MAILBOX    29 P.G. NEWS     1-5 
BRIDGE             29 B.C. NEWS       7 
HOROSCOPE           2 CANADA NEWS 15-16 
COMICS             28 WORLD NEWS  17-19 
CROSSWORD          28 SPORTS       9-12 
CLASSIFIEDS     20-22 MONEY          23 
OPINION             6 A&E         25-32 
                                                                         Contact Us
 CLASSIFIED: 250-562-6666 READER SALES: 250-562-3301 SWITCHBOARD: 250-562-2441
 0     58307    00200
 0 TONIGHT - VS SPOKANE CHIEFS
 ireiN chih i
- 7PM
 G'AMEfSRONSOI
 ciisrrAs
 Get your tickets today!