West Fraser fined $111K after trapped worker dies at B.C. mill

A major B.C. timber company has been fined almost $111,000 after a worker who was cleaning wood fibre from inside a silo was buried, trapped and killed.

The incident occurred in January 2025 after a fire ignited inside a silo at West Fraser Timber Co.’s Westpine sawmill in Quesnel. Water used to put out the blaze led wood fibre inside the silo to freeze.

A subcontracted worker was later pressure washing the frozen fibre inside the silo when a “large volume” of it dislodged from an overhang, according to a recent summary of the incident from WorkSafeBC.

“The fibre blocked access to the silo hatch and engulfed the worker, who sustained fatal

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