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Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Fire empties apartments
Celebration time at Mount Prevost
Champion campaign: School wins national competition to claim $125,000 grant to build community play park
Duncan: Parkland Place blaze leaves 100 temporarily homeless
Ashley Degraaf
News Leader Pictorial
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Don Bodger
News Leader Pictorial
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ore than 100 residents displaced by Sunday afternoon’s fire at the Parkland Place apartments were still wondering Tuesday afternoon when any of them could return to their
homes. A meeting after press time at the Island Savings Centre where many of the residents were being temporarily housed was going to determine if that was feasible. “They weren’t able to go back yesterday,’’ said Emergency Social Services manager Sybille Sanderson Tuesday. “We’re hoping about half of them will be able to go home by this evening.’’ People and pets were all evacuated or removed safely following the fire at the apartment block on Dobson Road in Duncan. There was some concern about finding the owner of the unit on the third floor where the fire started, who was not home at the time, but he was located about 45 minutes after firefighters arrived. “Everybody’s accounted for now,’’ said Duncan Fire Department chief Mike McKinlay. “From what I understand, all pets are accounted for.’’ The Duncan Fire Department got the call at about 3:20 p.m. and mutual aid was quickly called in from the North Cowichan South End hall, as flames were initially shooting out from the building. Duncan had 22 members on the scene on its four trucks and North Cowichan also attended with four trucks. Firefighters quashed the flames fairly quickly when they arrived but smoke billowed out from the building for a considerable time. Several units sustained water and smoke damage at the south end of the building. Units 330 and 440 were the hardest hit. “I would say there’s eight, possibly 10 or more units that are going to be out of service,’’ said McKinlay. Firefighters remained on the scene for several hours Sunday night. McKinlay said it was 10 p.m. before he got home and he was back there Monday morning for further mop-up. McKinlay and City of Duncan Bylaw Enforcement Officer Dave Hewitson intended to launch their
Andrew Leong
Parkland Place apartment residents Geraldine and Garnet Pearce watch with their dog as firefighters work to extinguish a fire at the 620 Dobson Road apartment complex. investigation into the cause of the fire Tuesday morning. The priority was to get as many residents back into their units as possible. “What we’re hoping to do is get this building up and running and get their life back in order,’’ said McKinlay. Emergency Social Services was providing temporary housing for those in need at the Island Savings Centre. “Unless they have places to stay, that’s where they’re going,’’ said McKinlay. It was clearly the most spectacular fire in the city in many years.
“I think the last one that was close to this was the Gala Vista,’’ said McKinlay of the October 2012 fire there. The evacuation of Parkland Place went smoothly without any harm to residents. Firefighters also escaped injury despite a very dangerous situation. “I got a few sore shoulders and a few achy bodies,’’ said McKinlay of his crew. Some pets were alarmed at what was happening, but were removed unscathed. One dog bit a firefighter. “There’s a few upset ones we took out,’’ said McKinlay.
olks at Ecole Mt. Prevost are on cloud nine. And it’s no wonder. The school community received news yesterday morning it was chosen as the grand prize winners of a $125,000 grant for a community playground. And they celebrated in style during the school’s lunch break complete with cake, loud tunes, and a flashmob dance to Jordin Sparks single One Step at a Time or rather One Vote at a Time. “We’re over the moon,” said Ecole Mt. Prevost Elementary PAC Chair Mona Kaiser between serving students celebration cake. “We really want to stress this was a community effort.” “We’ve been really impressed with people’s verbal and financial support,” added Prevost principal Pedro Mengual. Mengual and Kaiser — among many parents, teachers and school staff — danced with students during the celebration dance skit. A big thank you was also screamed out and recorded for folks over at the Aviva Community Fund. Project Mount Prevost’s Multi-generational Community Playground made it into the top 10 of the Aviva Community competition in December. From there, 30 top projects — 10 from Prevost school’s large division — went in front of a panel of judges to determine which would receive full funding. The judging panel evaluated the finalist ideas based 30% on longevity and sustainability, 25% on impact, 15% on likelihood of success, 15% on how many votes the idea received in the semifinals, 10% on submission quality and 5% on originality. The winners were announced on CTV in Ontario at about 3 a.m. yesterday morning. Prevost’s project concept features play structures for kids, an outdoor classroom for teachers, an outdoor fitness circuit for seniors, a community garden for neighbours, a natural play space for toddlers, and a picnic space for everyone. Kaiser noted connections in the community as a huge boost to their success in the voting portion of the campaign. more on page 6 bchonda.com
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