BC Coroners Service said it will now hold two separate inquests into the deaths of four workers who died in two sawmill explosions in 2012.
Last August chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said the deaths from the two explosions would all be examined in a single inquest starting March 2, 2015 in Prince George.
With information provided from the families, survivors, communities and inquest participants, it has been decided two separate inquests will be held.
One will be held in Prince George to examine the circumstances of the deaths that resulted in the explosion at Lakeland Mills Ltd. Sawmill and the other in Burns Lake regarding the explosion at Babine Forest Products sawmill.
Alan Little, 43, and Glenn Roche, 46, died as a result of the Lakeland Mills blast on April 23, 2012.
Robert Luggi Jr., 45, and Carl Charlie, 42, were killed in the Burns Lake explosion on Jan. 20, 2012.
Lapointe said the decision was made in keeping with the BC Coroners Service to conduct investigations and hold inquests to make sure community member deaths are not concealed, overlooked or ignored.
The Burns Lake community made it clear that it has a vested interest in hearing first-hand information about the explosion that took place in their community. Lapointe said community needs outweigh the advantages of combining the two inquests.
The inquest into the Lakeland Mills deaths will go as scheduled at the Prince George courthouse on March 2, 2015.
The inquest into the Babine Forest Products mill deaths will start on July 13, 2015, at the Island Gospel Fellowship Hall in Burns Lake. Presiding over that inquest will be Chico Newell, resource
industry coroner for the BC Coroners Service.
