Merritt Herald, March 14, 2013

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MERRITT HERALD Game on: bring on West Kelowna! FREE

THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2013 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS

By Ian Webster THE HERALD

sports@merrittherald.com

The Merritt Centennials plan to put plenty of heat on West Kelowna goaltender Tyler Briggs (33) in their first round, best-of-seven playoff series, which gets underway this Friday in West Kelowna. In action above, the Cents’ Derek Huisman goes hard to the net with Warriors’ defenseman Matthew Berry-Lamontagna in tow. In the background is Merritt’s assistant captain Regan Soquila. Ian Webster/Herald

Hang on to your hats, folks! The exciting BCHL Junior A hockey postseason is officially here. The Merritt Centennials’ playoff run begins with games one and two of their best-of-seven first round series against the West Kelowna Warriors on Friday and Saturday in West Kelowna. Games three and four are slated for the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena on Monday and Tuesday of next week. The CentsWarriors rivalry is an intense one with West Kelowna overtaking Merritt on the final weekend of the regular

season in the battle for second place in the Interior Division. Six of the seven games between the two teams in the regular season were decided by one goal; two of them in overtime. Look for sparks to fly. In their final meeting, on March 6, the two teams combined for 112 minutes in penalties. For much more on the Centennials, and complete details on the BCHL playoffs, turn to p. 25.

Cancer risk occupational hazard for firefighters By Emily Wessel THE HERALD

reporter@merrittherald.com

Firefighters were on their feet in a flash to help a boy who fell asleep and crashed out of his chair at the Merritt Civic Centre on Monday night. “If you had to collapse, what better place than a room full of firefighters?” the boy’s father, presenter Dr. Kenneth Kunz, joked when it was determined he wasn’t

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hurt. It turned out to be a brief bit of comic relief during Kunz’s twohour lecture on the link between firefighting and cancer. About 40 people attended the lecture put on by the Merritt Fire Rescue Department. Kunz, a veteran oncologist, said his mission is to raise awareness of the cancer risks firefighters face as an occupational hazard through their increased exposure

to carcinogens. “Firefighters have an increased risk of getting cancer just by trying to earn a living by protecting the public,” he said. “Historically, firefighters have been exposed to burning natural materials, but everything today is made out of synthetic materials: chemicals, paints, solvents, adhesives. Even diesel exhaust from fire trucks is very carcinogenic.” He said those carcino-

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gens can be absorbed in the body through the skin, by accidental ingestion, or breathed into the lungs. Kunz said a firefighter friend in Nelson was told he smelled like a smoked ham for over a week following a large fire. “If it’s on you, it’s in you,” he said. “If you get into the fire truck and it smells like smoke and soot, and you smell like smoke and soot, and the bunker gear smells like

smoke and soot, that’s where the carcinogens are coming from. It’s after the fire, from soiled turnout gear, the truck, even in the fire hall, that we see fatal cancers in first responders.” Kunz began presenting on the link between firefighting and cancer when a firefighter approached him on the topic after a free cancer seminar in Nelson.

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Oncologist Dr. Kenneth Kunz presented a two-hour talk on firefighters’ risk of cancer at the Merritt Civic Centre on Monday. Emily Wessel/Herald

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