Massive Fire
continued from page ten

along will be a money-maker too, if not more so,”
says McIntyre. “The eipliyer has the advantage
of a highly-skilled workforce that has worked
long and hard to make the operation run smoothly
and efficiently.”

Nearly everything is gone - including gluers,
resses, saws, the lathe, sanders, a new putty
line recently installed, and the entire finishing

end of the mill. A building put up this past spring
to house a new dryer has been condemned.

The company was about halfway through a $6
million equipment upgrade. A new dryer was to
come on line and, on the very day of the fire,
they were supposed to start bringing in a new
gluer/layup system on a trial basis. The
membership was also told that a new lathe was
on order.

All signs were pointing up for the future of the
mill. Its production of quality poplar veneer was
growing along with its traditional markets for
industrial grade plywoods.

A WILD FIRE BREAKS OUT

When plant chairperson and forklift driver
Wayne Butler returned to the lathe area after
going to the new dryer area, he noticed a fire
hose on the floor. Fellow worker John Connor
had the hose on a flame between the lathe and
the nearby chipping area.

Butler helped Connor by feeding him hose as
the two men made desperate attempts to put out
the fire in its early phase.

The fire lit up a motor as it lurched in from the
chipper room via an opening for conveyor belts
which transport chips away from the lathe.

The sheer heat from the fire burst a large
hydraulic hose which the sprayed flaming liquid
all over. Flames shot up a wall and black smoke
surrounded the workers.

“J said ‘let’s get the hell out of here, there’s
nothing we can do,” said Brother Butler in an
interview with the Lumberworker.

Butler dropped the hose and went and ran to
notify lathe operator Laurie Richard to evacuate
the premises. Butler called a foreman to get him
to call 911 and the fire department.

The fire soon crept over the lathe and the
forklift Butler was on with terrifying ferocity.

“It was like a ‘near-death’ experience,” he half-
joked later.

Butler got on the loader and headed down to
the other end of the mill. Some workers were
approaching the fire with hand-held
extinguishers.

“When they saw the fire roaring towards them,
they just ran out of the mill as quickly as they
could,” said Butler who witnessed the fire leaping
over bundle after bundle of veneer.

Butler told workers to evacuate the old dryer
room.

“The smoke was coming down the mill, you
couldn’t see nothing,” he added.

The electrician crew was evacuated out the
windows of the room they were in. Then workers
worked furiously to get forklifts and the welding
truck out of the mill.

Across the river I.W.A. safety director Tom
Lowe saw flames from the hotel were he was
staying. He was in town to teach a health and
safety course, which was to begin the next day.

Brother Lowe grabbed his video camera and
started filming. He worked his way across the
eek to within approximately 150 meters of the
mill.

“All I could see was flames and smoke and
nothing else,” said Brother Lowe. “I could feel
the heat from what was an inferno at that point.”

Lowe talked to several members who got out of
the mill.

“They were pretty down in the dumps and
depressed about what was going on. They were
witnessing their livelihoods going up in flames,”
he added.

ECONOMIC IMPACT WIDELY FELT

Local 306 financial secretary John Richard,
who comes from the Northumberland Co-op
dairy operation in town, told the Lumberworker
the economic impact of the fire is being felt wide
jin the community and outlying areas.

For every direct job lost at the mill, a related 3
spin-off jobs are lost in the economy.

Local 306 itself is greatly affected as there are
about 145 I.W.A. ae at stake. There are also
over 35 management positions tied in = all well

ing jobs which support the community.

sf addition woodlot owners who supplied the
mill have lost their market for high-quality

sei

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3
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Helicopters and waterbomber planes doused the fire in a scence that one observer termed "was

like Pearl Harbour."

poplar peeler logs. Whereas they were selling
them to the plywood mill for $120 a cord, now
they are only able to sell to the nearby
Weyerhaeuser-oriented strandboard plant for
$57 a cord unit.

About 330 of the Northumberland County
Forest Products Marketing Board’s 2,370
producers were selling to Nelson.

Local trucking companies are affected as well
— both those that haul out finished product and
those that haul waste and salvage.

Also on layoff are 10 workers at Enviren
Technologies, a specialty machinery outfit, 20
workers at Skyway Wood Products, and 10-15
workers at Trac Industries, all owned by Tozer
as part of the ATCON group of companies.

Brother Hogan hopes to see the mill rebuilt
soon and the local wants to work with Mr. Tozer
to see that I.W.A. members may be involved in
the construction work.

BUILDING A STRONGER LOCAL

Despite the setback, union members are holding
hopes for a better future.

“We are going to keep our chin up,” said Hogan.
sere out there organizing and building on our

ase.

Union organizer Mario Fortunato and others
are out there contacting new potential members.”

Currently Local 306 is negotiating first
collective agreements with Juniper Forest
products in Juniper, an I-joist manufacturing
plant where about 90 newly-certified members
work. Continuation of contract talks were planned
for mid-August.

Also seeking a first contract at the Lakeburn
Lumber plant in Dieppe, near the Moncton

Airport, are about 55 new union members who
were in a legal strike position.

In addition to Brother Lowe’s health and safety
class. delivered in Miramichi on July-14 and 15,
which dealt with conflict resolution (15 members
were in attendance), the I.W.A.’s Bob Navarretta,
director of arbitration services, appeared in
Miramichi on July 8 to put on a “Facing
Management” course for 18 members.

“Those are things that we had to do and will
continue to do to build a stronger I.W.A. in New
Brunswick,” said Brother McIntyre. “The men
and women at Nelson Forest Products are an
important part of our future, even though they
are out of work at this time due to the fire.”

Brother Butler says the members in New
Brunswick are really taking ownership of the
union’s organizing program and the education
classes have allowed the diverse membership to
come together and build the strong bonds needed

to strengthen their union.

The local has members or contacts in St. John,
Moncton, Grand Falls, Woodstock and other
areas.

“The people in those areas see how we are
working to build a better local. People are talking
and we are starting to move ahead and make
progress,” he added.

As for Nelson Forest Products, the future could
be bright.

When the original Burchill Brothers plywood
mill burnt down in 1966, throwing 100 union
members out of work, a more modern mill was
up and running up 9 months later.

“That’s a historical fact,” said Hogan. “If we
cross our fingers and work hard maybe the same
thing will come true again and a better plant can
be built and new product lines be introduced.” @

eae reer
LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 2001/11