THURSDAY
S I N C E
NOVEMBER 22, 2012
1 8 9 5 Local golfer wins in Florida
Vol. 117, Issue 219
110
$
Page 11
INCLUDING H.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
Trail volunteer has a gift for giving Annual Christmas Raffle gives back to the elderly
in October, and then the KBRH Foundation forwards the list to BC Lotto, where the tickets are printed. “Last year, I made $3500, the most ever, and all the proceeds go back to the Poplar Ridge residents.” The raffle draw also keeps the residents of Poplar Ridge busy at their annual Christmas party. “The residents pick names out of one box to match with a ticket from another, and this makes for a fun time,” she said. Jimenez’s passion to volunteer time and care to the residents at Poplar Ridge began soon after she started a care-giving job there. “Everyone has something they love to do, and I love to help the residents of Poplar Ridge,” she said. “She is a small lady but she has a great big heart,” said Dennis Lacey, Poplar Ridge supporter. Ticket sales began Nov. 6 and will be sold until the Poplar Ridge Christmas party on Dec. 18. Jimenez’s impressive array of gifts and gift certificates to be raffled, are on display by the first floor elevator at KBRH, Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
From one holiday to the next, the true meaning of Christmas seems to have gotten lost over the years. But one Trail resident, who begins planning for the holidays in early fall, does so with one mission in mind – to give back to the residents of Poplar Ridge Pavilion. “The third week of September, I start going around town to ask for donations to the Poplar Ridge Christmas Raffle,” said Marisa Jimenez, volunteer in the extended care wing at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital (KBRH). Jimenez began her annual venture 12 years ago, and each year donations to the raffle have grown to exceed her hopes. This year was no exception. “I was worried this year with so many businesses closing, but that wasn’t the case, there was more donations and the raffle just keeps getting bigger.” So far Jimenez has received 39 gift certificates and 55 gifts, and is
SHERI REGNIER PHOTO
Marisa Jimenez displays prizes for the Poplar Ridge Christmas Raffle by the first floor elevator at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital. expecting more donations this week. “This is the most donations I have ever had, people
have been so generous,” she said. Jimenez inventories the bulk of donations
PACIFIC COASTAL
Cause of flame burst still unknown Plane remains parked in Trail BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
The plume has long since cleared, but a shroud of mystery still engulfs a Pacific Coastal plane grounded at the Trail Regional Airport. One week following an incident at the airport the plane remains parked because there is internal damage within the engine, said Spencer Smith, vice president of commercial services for Pacific Coastal Airlines “It is too early to tell why there is engine damage, but we think it was caused by tests we did the next day.” Smith went on to explain that the maintenance crew arrived the morning of Nov. 15, and did not see any damage. A new engine is currently en route from Vancouver, said Smith. He declined to discuss the outcome of the on-going investigation. “It is too early to comment if we should have done anything different,” he said. “All that information will come out at a later date.” On Nov. 14, passengers were in the middle of deplaning at the Trail airport, when a person turned around and saw what he thought was fire and alerted the staff. Fire retardant was deployed by the pilots although Pacific Coastal officials said there was never any fire. Smith said what can happen during the shut down of a plane is that extra fuel can build up in the exhaust pipe and the excess that is shot out appears as flame.
Preparedness a key priority for emergency officials BY GUY BERTRAND Times Staff
The row of books above Dan Derby’s desk attests to the amount of preparedness there is in the event of an emergency in the region. Responding to a letter to the editor in last week’s Trail Times, Derby and Trail’s Public Works manager and a member of the Emergency Planning Centre Larry Abenante gave a detailed account of the training, education and practice behind the region’s emergency preparedness plan.
Abenante explained how the response plan is an evolving document as contact personnel changes, services improve and preparation is evaluated. Participants in the plan are continuously training and upgrading for any potential disaster. Derby presented a partial list of table-top emergencies and seminars that local authorities have participated in. It ranges from flood observation and training to a Pacific Northwest exercise that included 40 agencies from the U.S. and Canada to last month’s wildfire exercise in
Grand Forks where emergency plans were rehearsed. He pointed to Sunday night’s fire in downtown Trail as an example of all facets of emergency response – from police to ambulance to firefighters – were quickly on hand to deal with the situation. And it’s only going to get better. A revision of the master plan for the entire district is nearing completion, which will streamline response time and have all parties on the same page. “The new plan is a plan that can be used in Warfield, Trail
even as far away as Greenwood,” said Abenante. The master plan has contact people and services in each region so it can be executed quickly and effectively. “There’s a matrix for the whole regional district; who has what training, when they got it,” he added. While the majority of the plan involves the key personnel required in the event of an emergency, Abenante and Derby both agreed that the first line of safety for individual residents is common sense.
Having an emergency kit at home is the first step towards surviving any emergency. “During an emergency, you could be on your own for an extended period,” said Derby. “Emergency services may not be readily available, as increasing demands are placed on responders. It may take emergency workers some time to get to you as they help those in most critical need. Access to phones, gas, water, sewer and electrical services may be cut off. Learning how to be personally prepared is vital.”
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