After Canada wildfire, a silver lining for businesses

By Susan Taylor and Nicole Mordant
TORONTO/VANCOUVER, May 12 (Reuters) - As the Canadian city
of Fort McMurray prepares to rebuild after a wildfire reduced
parts of it to ash, businesses from 'man camp' suppliers to
pizza parlors are preparing for a spike in demand as clean-up
crews, builders and oil sands workers pour into the region.
The fire destroyed more than 2,400 buildings, or around 10
percent of the Alberta city's structures, damaged more than 500
others and forced some 90,000 people to flee.
"As tragic as this situation is, there is a unique
opportunity for a market that had gone very slow, to get some
return of growth," said Russell Dauk, vice president at Alberta
builder Rohit Group.
As oil markets weakened, Rohit's building starts tumbled 80
percent in Fort McMurray over the last three years, forcing it
to cut three-quarters of workers there.
Providers of temporary housing, such as Houston-based Civeo
Corp CVEO.N , say they are already busy with insurers and
bankers who need somewhere to sleep after surveying damage. Its
stock is up more than 21 percent since the fire started May 1.
Civeo, the biggest supplier of worker accommodations to
Canada's oil sands projects, expects occupancy to rise at its
seven lodges and 14,000 rooms in the area, said Chief Executive
Bradley Dodson.
These so-called man camps are expected to be the only living
quarters in the region for thousands of returning oil sands
staff and recovery workers as the city itself remains off-limits
to residents for the next several weeks.
Bookings at Civeo's Mariana Lake Lodge have swollen to over
700 from 300 before the fire, said Ian Robb, president of the
union representing camp cooks and cleaners.
"Our members are across the country, so they phone in for
jobs that I post every day," he said. "The last two days, we've
had 30, 40, 50 jobs at a time going on (our hiring board) ... I
anticipate that we'll pick up considerably."
Target Logistics AGSCS.UL expects to fill the 400 beds at
its Cheecham Lodge with workers rebuilding the town and is
talking with other camp operators about partnerships.
"The business and economic benefit will be significant,"
said senior vice president Troy Schrenk.
Clean Harbors Inc CLH.N will need to hire staff for its
lodges, but won't know the demands for its environmental
services until the government completes its clean up plan, said
Kirk Duffee, president of oil and gas services.
Airlines are also gearing up for increased demand as oil
companies use more fly-in-fly-out workers, though flight plans
cannot be set until oil companies know where their workers will
be located, said Darcy Morgan, chief commercial officer with
charter operator Enerjet Ltd.
And feeding Fort McMurray will be a big job, said Tyler
Warman, mayor of Slave Lake, Alberta, where a 2011 wildfire
forced the evacuation of 7,000 and destroyed one-third of the
town.
"Restaurants will be very busy for the first couple of
weeks, as people will probably have to throw out their fridges
and freezers," he said.
Ziad Tarabien said he cooked up food until 5 a.m. at his
Taras Pizza restaurant in Lac la Biche, Alberta to supply an
evacuation center over four nights, though he provided much of
it without immediate payment.
"We're like everybody else in community. If we were in this
situation we would be in need," he said.