A coroner's inquest into the explosion that leveled the Babine Forest Products sawmill near Burns Lake began Monday with testimony from the widow and the sister of the two men killed in the blast.
Alternately sobbing and fighting back tears, Maureen Luggi, the wife of Robert Luggi, 45, described the father of four as a happy, easy-going person with a sense of humour who was also hard working.
She said her husband, who had worked at Babine for more than 22 years, had been transferred to a new shift at the start of the year and was training to become a lead hand when the explosion struck on Jan. 20, 2012.
Prior to the blast, she said the mill had been shut down for a time in March 2011 due to a fire and during that time Luggi was working at the mill seven days a week to help get it back up and operating.
Once the mill had resumed production, she said Luggi had taken on a weekend position where he was in charge of the clean-up crew. That lasted until November 2011 when the family was finally able to have weekends together.
"He did come home and tell me about the dust levels at Babine Forest Products," Luggi said. "He told me that WorkSafeBC was at the mill, they were doing inspections and they were discussing the dust levels with the superintendents."
She said it had reached the point where some workers were wearing dust masks.
Luggi also recalled that during the week leading up to the explosion, it was exceptionally cold, with the temperature dropping as low as -40 C.
In later testimony Monday, Amy Cronin, a U.S.-based consultant on industrial safety, said cold weather can make dust drier and create static electricity because the air doesn't hold as much humidity.
She also said that dust concentrations become breathing hazards long before they become explosion hazards.
Lucy Campbell, the sister of Carl Charlie, 42, also killed in the blast, was known for his "incredible smile, great big hugs, handshakes and waves."
It was actually his day off on the day of the disaster, but Charlie, who had worked at Babine for more than 18 years, decided to go to work anyway to earn some extra cash for a daughter's high school graduation.
When Charlie was first reported missing, Campbell said there was still hope he would still be found alive.
"Little did we know that the job he was working at was in the heart of the explosion," Campbell said. "Our only hope as family is that he didn't feel a thing because he didn't deserve to die like this. No one did."
Of the organizations in charge of industrial safety, Cronin said the company needs to be the most responsible because regulators like WorkSafeBC must keep an eye on such a wide variety of industries.
"It's my personal opinion that the company needs to be well aware of all the hazards in their industry and there are a lot of ways to do that," Cronin said.
