Surrey sawmill sending Lytton enough lumber for 50 homes

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SURREY (NEWS 1130) — A Surrey-based sawmill company l is stepping up to help the Village of Lytton and the Lytton First Nation after a wildfire all but destroyed those communities.

The fire on June 30 spread rapidly through the area forcing about 1,000 people to flee their homes, and leaving two people dead.

Jack Gardner with the Teal Jones Group says the company is donating half-million board feet of lumber, which is enough to rebuild about 50 homes.

“In the past we’ve dealt with fire, we’ve had our mills burn down. It’s a terrible feeling and no one should have to experience that, let alone experience their house burn down. So we just really thought to give back to the community, we could donate some lumber,” he explains.

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With mills located in the Fraser Valley and the Fraser Canyon, Gardner says the devastated communities are close to home for the company.

“It’s our backyard, they’re our neighbours. It just makes sense that we give back,” he says.

“We just want to help our neighbours out, and we actually challenge other forestry companies to join us in this effort.”

Since the company announced the donation, Gardner says he’s been contacted by a trucking firm that wants to help with transport.

Gardner says they don’t just plan to show up with a bunch of lumber — they want to make sure the donation is properly coordinated to support efforts to rebuild.

“We’re getting in touch with the province, the municipality, and the First Nation to make sure that the lumber that we’re donating arrives at the right time, and we do things the right way.”

With files from Nikitha Martins

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