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Damage that the worst forest-fire season in B.C. has done to the province’s forest industry is showing up in trade statistics that show overall exports down 14 per cent to the end of August, according to B.C. Stats.

Understandably, the fires that raged across B.C.’s Interior and consumed 12,158 square kilometres of forests, pushed timber companies out of the woods, diverting their employees to fight forest fires instead of harvesting logs for processing.

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“This is almost unprecedented,” said Peter Hall, vice-president and chief economist for Export Development Canada. “When something like that happens, clearly, you’re not going to be able to ship as much, “you’re not going to be able to work those woodlots.”

However, he views the damage as a temporary hit on B.C.’s trade and that, barring a damaging resolution to the Canada-U.S. softwood trade dispute, the province’s exports will rebound in line with a recovering U.S. housing-construction market.