ranks of other older, remote pulp and paper mills in British Columbia shut down during the latter part of the twentieth century. Today, much of the town has been demolished, and many of the remaining buildings are in decay. Nevertheless, Ocean Falls maintains a residential community and a social network of former residents. Several disasters have struck the town. A major apartment fire in 1950 killed eight, a mudslide in 1965 killed seven and the town's Charleson school burned down on the night between December 21 and 22, 1969. Although no one was seriously hurt in the school fire, the little community was traumatized nevertheless. The school was closed for only three days; several teachers went to Bella Bella to obtain school desks and classes were held throughout the community, from the community centre to the Royal Canadian Legion branch pub (grade 12 students) to part of the Martin Inn, a 600-bed hotel. The new school, with one of the largest indoor gymnasiums in British Columbia, opened in 1971. Economy and infrastructure At its largest, Ocean Falls was the home to around 3900 people, a K-12 school system, its own hospital, one of the province's largest hotels and a swimming pool where several swimming champions trained. Ocean Falls was a typical single-employer town where the company operated and maintained the complete town site. A town site manager, working in a town site office, managed the allocation of apartments and houses on behalf of the people living in town. Utilities such as water, electricity, and heat were subsidized by the company. The rental cost of accommodation was also quite reasonable permitting the residents of Ocean Falls to live rather inexpensively. In the nearby Martin Valley, residents could purchase their own single-family houses. However, in most cases the company offered a buy-back option to protect the purchaser. The town consisted of a blend of fairly large apartments, duplexes and single-family homes. Most of the buildings were located on the fairly steep slope of the Caro Marion mountain. The town's main store and several other smaller businesses were located along the harbour front. The Ocean Falls Court House, the Legion Hall, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police building and the Post office are also in the harbour area. Most of the roads leading up the hills away from the harbour area were heavily constructed timber roads. These roads were capable of carrying large vehicles