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u Power skating P. 2 u He’s back P. 9
u Lost and found P. 3 u Re: Smear campaign P. 4
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PHONE: 996-8482 www.caledoniacourier.com
WEDNESDAY, October 9, 2013
VOL. 36 NO. 32 $1.30 inc. GST
A left to right, top to bottom sequence of shots of the truck fire which closed Highway 27 at Kwah Road on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Ruth Lloyd Caledonia Courier
Truck fire stops traffic
A single vehicle fire on Highway 27 at Kwah Road took place on Tuesday night at
around 9:20 p.m.. The vehicle caught fire after what is believed to have been a leak from a gas line ignited. The driver was not injured in the incident
and exited the vehicle after it caught fire. RCMP and the Fort St. James Fire Department attended the scene, with RCMP closing the roads and keeping onlookers a safe distance from the fire, as the vehicle also report-
Ruth Lloyd/Caledonia Courier
edly had ammunition in the back which was going off as the vehicle burned. Firefighters managed to put out the fire and the vehicle was removed from the road, allowing traffic to move again the same night.
Hat Lake connector proposed Ruth Lloyd Caledonia Courier Canfor is proposing to build a direct connector road between the Leo Creek Forest Service Road and the North Road. The proposed connector would allow Canfor to haul logs to a sort yard adjacent to the North Road, where offhighway logging trucks could stockpile logs. Highway trucks would then be able to haul to Canfor’s Plateau mill all year long. While most of the proposed connector is actually already in place through existing roads those roads would require widening and new bridges would be put in place. Some new road would be required to fully connect to the 38 km point on the North Road.
The argument in favour of the road is it would allow Canfor to more easily supply their mills year-round, while also having a steadier year-round number of logging trucks through the community of Fort St. James instead of having to concentrate the trucking to the months when roads are not too soft (ie. “break-up” and “freeze-up”). The highway trucks hauling when the roads were softer would be modified to create less impact on the roads. This would be less expensive, is the argument, because maintenance on the North Road is less costly than the Tachie Road, because Tachie Road is paved. Tachie Road is also winding and fairly narrow, which makes safety a consideration. Canfor would be hauling up to a maximum of 2.25 million cubic metres of wood per year through Fort St. James. This is the maximum estimated annual fibre the company
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will be looking to haul to supply their Plateau mill once they have shifted to getting their timber supply from the Fort St. James area. The shift to taking their fibre supply from the Fort St. James forest district will take place over a number of years. The 2.25 million cubic metres would be moved in an estimated 41,000 logging truck loads per year by Canfor (this does not include trucks from other companies). Putting a sort area on the Tachie Road would be possible and there is a mill site owned by Tl’azt’en Nation which is currently. (Recently, keyoh holders from Tl’azt’en Nation blockaded the Leo Creek Forest Service Road for a number of days: “Blockade comes down - for now”; Caledonia Courier September 18, 2013). Continued on Page 6
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