October 28, 2015 Wednesday
Woman rescued after fall at WPT
INSIDE THIS WEEK:
ANDREW BAILEY
Westerly News
The Ucluelet Volunteer Fire Brigade put their recently earned first aid certifications to the test on Sunday when they helped rescue a woman who had fallen off the Wild Pacific Trail near the Amphitrite Lighthouse. The woman dislocated her arm and was stuck in the rocks after tumbling down a roughly three-metre embankment, according to Ucluelet’s fire chief Ted Eeftink. Eeftink said the brigade secured the woman into an emergency basket and used a low angle rope technique to pull her to safety. “They stabilized her, put her in the basket and got her up to the ambulance as quickly as possible because she was in a fair bit of pain,” he said adding she was in an ambulance within an hour of emergency responders arriving around 11 a.m. He noted about 12 members of the brigade have received their first responder first aid certification since April, allowing them to assist the local BC Ambulance Service (BCAS). “Everybody has gone heads-on with it, they’ve really gone forward with the whole program,” he said. “They’re motivated to help BCAS out as much as possible because we realize we only have one ambulance here.”
LAND BOUGHT: Tofino has purchased Monks Point. PAGE 3
Communities mourn together in disaster’s wake ANDREW BAILEY
Westerly News Sadness covered the Coast on Sunday as a tragic whale watching disaster took at least five lives. The 65-foot Leviathan II was carrying 24 passengers and three crewmembers when it capsized near Vargas Island around 3 p.m. The BC Coroners Service has confirmed four men and one woman died in the tragedy, all of them British nationals though two were residing in Canada. The five ranged in age from 18 to 76 years old. The vessel was located partially submerged about eight nautical miles from Tofino and thanks to the heroic efforts of professional See RESCUE pg. 15 and volunteer emergency
responders 21 survivors were accounted for. Four survivors remained hospitalized on Monday though all were in stable condition, according to the Vancouver Island Health Authority. One passenger was still missing at press time. Tofino Mayor Josie Osborne told the Westerly she was devastated when she was notified of the disaster. “There’s so much uncertainty at the initial stages you don’t know exactly what, where, when, how, who,” she said. “Within minutes we began to hear informal reports and of course I couldn’t speak about those publicly, but we knew that deaths were
involved and that this was a real tragedy.” Osborne expressed infinite gratitude to “all of the people that were involved in all the efforts to save as many people as possible,” particularly the volunteer rescue crews who came pouring in from Ahousaht. “As soon as the reports went out on the marine VHF, the community of Ahousaht responded immediately and it’s my understanding that at least seven boats and about 30 individuals came out,” she said. “The Ahousaht people know these waters better than practically anybody else so it’s suitable and appropriate and wonderful that they came out and did what they
did.” She said the West Coast’s communities depend on each other when disaster strikes. “That’s just the way things get done on the Coast,” she said. “We are small coastal communities. We have our independent identities and lives within our communities but we all are connected by the ocean and when a tragedy like this strikes all differences are set aside and people come together to help.” Countless locals volunteered to help in any way they could both in the rescue missions and in caring for those involved in the disaster.
See TRAGEDY pg. 2
GRADS CELEBRATE: USS’ graduating class of 1965 celebrated a reunion in Ucluelet. PAGE 4
SUP’S UP: Tofino hosted its second annual Paddle Surf SUP Invitational. PAGE 5