Britco says it can help with the reconstruction of tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan.
The Langley-based manufacturer of modular homes has previous experience in disaster relief housing, having built hundreds of replacement homes for victims of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that rolled through Indonesia, killing thousands and leaving hundreds of thousands without homes.
Britco executive vice-president Chris Gardner says in 10 months, the company was able to design, fabricate and ship 500 wood-framed homes to three villages in Indonesia where they were quickly assembled by local people trained in B.C.
The earthquake-resistant four-room 600-square-foot houses were designed for local conditions, with wood treated to resist termites, stilts that elevated them a metre above ground and extra-large decks.
The Indonesian houses were built in collaboration with Save the Children USA.
Gardner said the company has contacted both the federal and provincial governments about involvement in a Canadian assistance effort for Japan.
"We would be able to respond," Gardner said.
He envisages providing accommodations for rescue and relief personnel to begin with, then housing.
"I think we would probably be building something different [than the Indonesian housing]" Gardner told The Times.
The climate in northeastern Japan is closer to B.C. than Indonesia's which means the company would be building more conventional designs, Gardner expects.
Britco is the largest manufacturer of modular buildings in the Pacific Northwest with 250,000 square feet of production facilities in Agassiz and Penticton.
