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James W. Byrd, 63, co-owner, Byrd Lumber Co., Summit, Ms., was killed in a sawmill accident Aug. 28.

A resident of McCall Creek, Ms., Byrd's arms and head were crushed after being pinned between two pieces of machinery at the company's sawmill in Auburn, Ms. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mill Worker Fatally Injured

A multi-craft technician died following injuries received at GeorgiaPacific's Skippers, Va., OSB mill.

Company spokesperson James Malone said l1-year mill veteran Craig Powell, 32, sustained internal injuries Aug. 28 while performing routine maintenance on the board forming line. Care was given on site, but Powell was later pronounced dead at an area hospital.

OSHA officials closed the plant for four days following the incident. The cause of the accident is still under investigation by OSHA and G-P.

Arsonist Targets Texas Yards

The most recent fire at 84 Lumber, El Paso, Tx., has been ruled arson, as officials look closely at a string of lumberyard fires in the city.

Starting with a fire at Adams Moulding & Lumber Co. April 15, 2000, seven fires have hit El Paso's West Side that authorities deemed either suspicious or outright arson. "We're angry and we're scared, but what are we supposed to do, stop stocking (wood pallets)?" asked Liz Payan, mgr., Payan Express Trans-

Universal Ends Cypress Deal

Universal Forest Products and Sunshine State Cypress formally ended a sales agreement the two had signed last September.

Under the agreement, Sunshine had been providing its full annual capacity of l0 million bd. ft. of cypress to Universal' s remanufacturing facility in Moultrie. Ga.

St. Joe Timberlands, which has an exclusive 20-year agreement to sell Sunshine all of its cypress fiber from 300,000 acres of northwest Florida timberlands, purchased 10O7o of portation Services, which endured a fire June 1 1.

84 Lumber suffered arson fires July 3, 2000 and July 22,2001. Private security guards have been hired to protect the facility.

Otherfires

have plagued HomeBase June 20, 2000, and MTS Warehousing, which survived fires on Jan. 9 and July I I ofthis year.

The fires are under investigation by city police and fire officials, along with federal agents from the ATF. No suspects have been named.

Sunshine's stock this past June.

Universal said the stock buyout resulted in Sunshine's desire to form its own sales wing. He added Universal will continue to be a customer of Sunshine's Hosford, Fl., mill, the only change being Universal will now buy on an open market basis-allowing it to buy from other mill sources.

Sunshine gen. mgr. Paul Pritchard said the decision was mutual. "There were too many restrictions for each party," he said. "The cypress effort could be served better if the exclusive asreement ended."