The Construction Record Podcast – Episode 299: B.C. Wildfire response with Chris Atchison and Kelly Scott

On this episode of The Construction Record Podcast. Digital media editor Warren Frey speaks with both British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA) president Chris Atchison and BC Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association president Kelly Scott about what their membership is doing both right now and in the upcoming recovery phase after wildfire season has ended. Atchison said one of the top priorities is to rebuild residences and other structures burned down in the fire and stressed that members of both the BCCA and the Southern Interior Construction Association have been directly affected by the wildfires and are working to rebuild their own communities. Scott pointed to the BC Roadbuilders cooperation with areas affected by the wildfires in deploying heavy equipment and noted roads will need to be repaired post-wildfires as they were put under extra strain by firefighting vehicles, evacuations and extreme heat. We also have headlines from both the Daily Commercial News and the Journal of Commerce including about former EllisDon president Geoff Smith's new mission to embrace digitalization, the Residential Construction Council of Ontario's upcoming summit on the province's ongoing housing crisis, VIA Rail spending $80 million to renovate heritage train stations in Winnipeg, Vancouver, Halifax and Quebec City and Warren's own story about the B.C. construction industry's wildfire response. You can listen to The Construction Record on the Daily Commercial News and Journal of Commerce websites as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music's podcast section. Our previous episode's interview with ConstructConnect chief economist Alex Carrick and senior economist Michael Guckes to discuss interest rates and their effect on the construction economy is here. Thanks for listening. DCN-JOC News Services Geoff Smith's next mission: digitization RESCON's upcoming housing summit will provide update on Ontario's ongoing housing crisis B.C. construction industry steps up to wildfire threat and aftermath VIA Rail continues heritage station upgrades