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THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2012
Proudly serving Williams Lake and the Cariboo-Chilcotin since 1930
VOL. 82. No. 16
Bulk water station in place
$1.34 inc. HST Erin Hitchcock photo
Justin Vedan and his fiancé Randi Gorcak stand in front of the Williams Inn building that used to be their home. After the fire started, they yelled and banged on their neighbours’ doors to make sure everyone got out safely. The fire, which left about 40 tenants without a home, also affected a nearby building and its occupants, as the power was affected. The Williams Lake Fire Department is still investigating the fire, and a cause has yet to be determined. Those who would like to make a donation to the victims affected by the fire can do so through the Central Cariboo Search and Rescue and the Salvation Army.
The Smart Card bulk water dispensing system at the Stampede Grounds is ready for public use, says the City of Williams Lake. The station is located next to the sani-station. The user will prepurchase credits for bulk water on a reusable card at the front desk at City Hall. Users can then go to the bulk water station at any time and swipe the card to access water. The system will allow users to dispense the amount of water desired and give a remaining card balance. When the card credits have been exhausted, users can take their card back to City Hall and repeat the process of purchasing additional credits. Cards are free, but a fee of $12 will be charged for lost or stolen cards. The cost of water is one cent per litre.
Inside the Tribune NEWS A3 Fire still under investigation. SPORTS A9 T-Wolves head to provincials. COMMUNITY A15 Students head to science fair. Weather outlook: Clearing in the morning today, high of 0 C. Cloudy/chance of flurries or showers Friday, high of 3 C.
Victims grateful for the help Erin Hitchcock Tribune Staff Writer Randi Gorcak and her fiancé Justin Vedan were sitting on their couch watching TV when they heard loud banging, screaming and hollering. It was about 10:30 p.m. Friday night and assumed it was a drunken fight or a party being busted up so they ignored the noise — until they heard someone screaming, “Help! Fire!” For the next six hours, the Williams Inn continued to burn. On Monday morning, Vedan and Gorcak, along with tenants Dale Delayen and Brian Collins, met with the Tribune at the Overland-
er Hotel where they were staying temporarily until accommodation could be found elsewhere. On Friday, as soon as they heard there was a fire, Gorcak and Vedan put on their shoes, grabbed their keys and ran out the door into a hallway thick with black smoke. They banged on neighbours’ doors to get them up and did what they could to put out the fire, but it kept spreading and there was no slowing it down. “Once I realized I couldn’t put this fire out, I just started running around everywhere and started pounding on everybody’s doors and went up to the third floor and banged on as many doors as
I could but it was so thick with smoke,” Vedan says. The sound of Vedan yelling is what woke up Delayen, whose room was on the third floor, the floor that received the most damage in the fire. He looked out into the hallway but didn’t smell any smoke or notice a fire so he went back into his room to get dressed. By the time he went back into the hallway, it was engulfed in smoke. “I didn’t think I was going to get out,” he says. On his way out he passed a neighbour’s room and went inside and grabbed a towel and soaked it with water. He then got on the ground and felt his way to the
stairs because he couldn’t see them through the dense smoke. “I had already sucked it into my lungs. A couple more of them and I’m done, because it just eats your chest up. I was the last guy out.” Delayen still has the towel, which a coworker at Wal-Mart has since washed for him. “I’m going to remember this (towel) because that saved my life. All of this stuff I have been taught about getting out of the fire immediately kicked in. I want to give real credit to this community. They have been amazing, reaching out.” See I Page A2