news Raging fire doused by Hayes Creek firefighters Page 1 & 14
EVENTS Want to go flying? COPA For Kids is back! Page 11
Community
What the heck is going on at the Airport? Page 13
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The Similkameen
Volume 64 Issue 16
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Proudly serving the community since 1948 • www.similkameenspotlight.com We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.
Hayes Creek fire fighters control blaze Eight volunteer firefighters with two fire trucks battled a horrifying blaze that could have easily been a disaster had the wind come back up. Lisa Carleton lisa@similkameenspotlight.com
The usual peace and quiet of the evening in the Chain Lake neighbourhood was disrupted by explosion after explosion on Friday, April 12. At 7:45 p.m., Hayes Creek Volunteer Fire Department dispatcher, Gail Dickson, received a call from John Crawford, resident of the area reporting that a neighbours home was on fire. Dickson called out the fire fighters available who arrived on scene by 8:10 p.m. The cabin located at 3591 PrincetonSummerland Road, was fully engulfed in flames and the fire was spreading throughout the property. At the time of his call, Crawford had let dispatch know that he had the lone occupant with him so the firefighters knew they had just to concentrate on putting out the fire. Eight volunteers worked fiercely to contain the blaze, Herman Zorn, Peter Grizer, Grant Gould and Rick Law headed up the battle. ‘We were horrified,” said Cliff Glover. He and wife Katherine are residents of the area. “We could have lost everything—had the wind come back up the fire would have gone straight up the hill or could have wrapped around the lake.”
See BLAZE - Page 14
Weather Watch Wednesday
High 11/Low -3
Thursday
High 12/Low 0
Friday
High 11/Low 4
Saturday
High 12/Low 4
Sunday
High 14/Low 4
Contributed/Cliff Glover
The Friday night fire consumed the cabin and spread quickly through the trees, vehicles and debris at 3591 Princeton-Summerland Road. Hayes Creek Volunteer Firefighters contained and put out the blaze, saving all the residences surrounding the property.
Social media safety lesson for all Lisa Carleton lisa@similkameenspotlight.com
Once its out there, you can’t take it back—meaning, your post, text, photo—whatever it is that you send out from one social media device to another. (Cell phone, computer, tablet) Students and parents of Vermilion Forks Elementary School (VFE) had a visit with Jesse Miller on Friday, April 12. Miller is an international public speaker who is in high demand to speak on topics of social media awareness, networking behaviour, online content evaluation and internet safety. For six years he has engaged students and parents, motivating them to evaluate and change the ways they use social
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media. During the 2011/12 school year, he was able to speak with over 200,000 students. While speaking, Millar causes his audience to think hard about the way they use their social media devices. For instance, he asked the students at VFE if they “thought it would be weird to have 100 people following them home.” When they answered yes, he then asked them why they needed 100 plus friends on Facebook, or 100 followers on Twitter. Miller asked the students what kinds of social media they were using. Besides Facebook, students are using accounts with Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest and Snap Chat.
See LESSON - Page 8
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