The mayor of Barriere says he’s encouraged by new business plans in an area of town once ravaged by wildfire.

Ward Stamer says three lots in the Louis Creek Industrial Park have been sold — including the former Tolko Mill property that burned down in 2003 during the McLure-Barriere wildfire.

“It’s encouraging, it’s taken a long time, I mean it’s been 16 years since we had the fires. And I think there was probably a hope that when Tolko decided not to rebuild, that within a course of four or five or six years that there would be a lot other economic activities going on. And it’s taken long than we probably had hoped.”

Stamer says another industrial business has bought land in the Louis Creek park and he says other businesses are continuing to pop up around town.

“We’ve got other businesses in town that have developed in the other industrial park in Barriere, right in the town itself. The community forest is expanding, they’ve got a mill now, they’ve got firewood, they’ve got a kiln. There’s some other initiatives the community forest is looking at on the piece of property. So there’s other things going on than just the Louis Creek industrial property.”

More than 70 structures burned down during the infamous McLure-Barriere wildfire.