Tolko Company Releases Update on Fire Damage Repair Process for High Prairie, Alberta, OSB Facility

Investigations continue into the fire that damaged the Tolko OSB facility in High Prairie, Alberta, on Friday, May 20, 2022. Currently, there is no production taking place at the site. The facility is still shipping out existing finished product as trucks and empty railcars become available.

On Friday (5-27-22), Fred Chin, Tolko’s vice president of Strand Board Business, said on the company’s website, “It’s a difficult situation for Tolko’s employees and the community.”

“Work has started on how we can minimize the impact of lost time on people and their families,” Chin added. “We want to assure everyone that we will soon put a recovery plan in place that will also us to get the High Prairie plant back up and operational.”

The company’s website indicates that the Alberta Occupational Health and Safety has approved a phased approach to accessing the site following the fire. Tradespeople were allowed on site to start restoring power to areas that are unrestricted, and on May 30, operations teams started clean-up in restricted areas.

The company update stated it is expected it will take several weeks to determine the detailed repair plans and the timing for a restart. “During the downtime … Tolko will redirect incoming logs from High Prairie to its Athabasca division near Slave Lake,” the update read.