After a devastating fire which destroyed their new recycling centre, Greening Up Fort St. James is looking hard at being able to rebuild.
GUF had insurance for the building, but the insurance will not cover the entire cost of rebuilding the structure, and there may now be stipulations as to the type of building they will need to have, which could also drive the cost up.
The group presented a short update to Fort St. James District mayor and council last week at the council meeting, but they still had few answers for the council as to how they plan to proceed.
“We really want to find a solution, we don’t want this to be the end,” said Jana Gainor, GUF recycling coordinator. But the group needs to ensure there are going to be adequate funds to rebuild before going forward. Their most immediate need last week was for site cleanup, with the pile of burnt metal and debris causing a bit of a hazard at the site.
They thanked the fire department for their work on the fire and preventing it from spreading to other buildings, and they thanked both the community of Fort St. James and the mayor and council for their support.
Mayor Rob MacDougall expressed his own support for the group.
“Words can’t express how disappointed I was to see that,” said MacDougall. “The cowardly act of vandalism better not go unpunished.”
“Don’t give up,” said MacDougall. “We’re down a bit, but Fort St. James just doesn’t quit so we’ll make it happen again.”
Two employees and an independent business with one other employee are now all out of work for the time being.
The group was meeting with some of their funding partners to discuss next steps for the society last week.
They will be holding a community open house on June 5 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. as well for the public on the second floor in the library.
They will be inviting new members to join the group and looking for community input into their work.
Fort St. James Fire Department was called to the Integris Recycling Centre, along with police and ambulance, at around 2:30 a.m. on May 21.
The newly constructed recycling centre was fully engulfed in flame when firefighters arrived.
Chief Bennet said the fire appeared to have started in the far (mixed paper) bin and moved from there into the building.
Video surveillance from a nearby business is still being examined to attempt to identify possible suspects in what is now being treated as arson.
Members of the volunteer organization arrived at about 6 a.m. the same morning to survey the wreckage and were stunned by the total destruction. The group had worked since 2008 to reach where they were.
The centre hosted their grand opening only one month almost to the day before the fire destroyed the facility.
The group had recently marked a major landmark in their recycling program, they diverted over 100 merit tonnes from the landfill.
They had been bailing over two metric tonnes a week since the purchase of their bailer.