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“The smoke from the flames was so thick and red, it was a scary sight,” Sangara said. “I was worried that if that ever came our way, this place would torch up, just like that.”

Photo by Ric Ernst / PNG

The fire prompted Delta Mayor Lois Jackson on Sunday to issue a state of local emergency. Firefighters were pulled from every hall in Delta, while forces from Surrey, New Westminster and Richmond backed up the municipality. The province responded by immediately sending aircraft bombers and helicopters with water buckets to battle the blaze.

Burns Bog is one of North America’ largest peat bogs and the worry is flames can sink under the dry peat, where they can burn out of sight for miles. The last major fire at Burns Bog, in September 2005, took more than a week to extinguish.

“We were really concerned about all of the industries,” Jackson said. “There was lots of embers and ash falling everywhere.”

Photo by The Corporation of Delta, Facebook / Vancouver Sun

Despite the danger, Sangara resisted repeated requests to leave his mill, which has been in the family for 36 years and has 40 employees. He worried about the oil tank at the business next door, and wondered if he should take the framed magazine cover featuring three generations — including his dad, brother and nephew — home with him. That night he hardly slept, getting up regularly to check for updates on the Delta website.

“They couldn’t put it out, they were just trying to keep in front of it,” he said. “The wind was howling pretty good and it was jumping around.”