The forested area near Esler is a bit cleaner thanks to the efforts of a local towing company.
As he prepared to haul a derelict blue station wagon from near the power lines Thursday afternoon, Steve Martin said it was the fourth vehicle he was taking away and that he would be coming back for the other three.
Martin is a driver for Bee Jay Auto Wrecking and Towing Ltd. in Williams Lake and said the old vehicles are taken to the company’s scrap yard on Mackenzie Avenue where they will eventually go through a crusher.
“We take them down for scrap so they’re not sitting in the bush destroying the environment,” he said. “Someone brought them out of the bush to here for us to pick them up.”
Bee Jay’s owner Ken Preeper said he’s been getting lots of calls to remove stuff from different areas in the Cariboo.
“Maybe with the fires, people have noticed more than they did before,” Preeper told the Tribune. “It seems odd that we’ve been getting so many calls. I think I am going to start asking people more questions when they call to see if it is because of the fires.”
A private contractor working in the Esler area called the company to come and get the derelict cars, Preeper confirmed, noting often his calls come in from the City of Williams Lake and the CRD to remove old vehicles as well.
Preeper said the company gets its gas reimbursed for the service, but noted that often his drivers donate their services, such as up at Thunder Mountain Raceway.
“Sometimes a couple of guys will go up there with their trucks and they’ll go tow a vehicle off the track at no charge,” Preeper said.
