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FOERSTER’S FATHER | Cherryville man to plead guilty to obstruction [A7]
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Slide reveals local fraternity RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff
The human spirit prevailed over the wrath of nature. What’s coming out of Kingfisher is how 200 residents and visitors bonded after the small community was cut off from the rest of the world by flooding and a landslide May 2. “Everyone was getting along and coming together,” said Rob Smailes, Regional District of North Okanagan acting administrator. “People were willing to look after each other.” Smailes saw the generosity firsthand as he was among a handful of emergency personnel helicoptered into Kingfisher, which was also without electricity and communications. In one case, a Calgary couple had travelled into the Mabel Lake area early in the day to pick up their RV. By the time they were ready to depart, road access was wiped out by raging water and a torrent of timber. “They had no food or anything but they were welcomed right in (by residents),” said Smailes. Along with Smailes, who is a volunteer firefighter, a paramedic and two RCMP officers were air-
lifted into Kingfisher and they were immediately embraced by those living there. “We needed fuel, a place to stay and a vehicle and they pulled all of that together,” said Smailes, adding that Mabel Lake Resort was of great assistance. A meeting Saturday went from being an emergency briefing to a giant potluck as residents pulled together food defrosting in freezers. “People were bringing in salmon and moose stew. We were eating like kings,” said Smailes. With road access gone, critical items were helicoptered into Kingfisher, including generators and medicine. A satellite phone linked the area to those beyond the slide. The Ministry of Transportation immediately began trying to restore Mabel Lake Road May 2, while B.C. Hydro and Telus focused on utilities. “It was a huge team effort and everything worked well,” said Brent Watson, with North Okanagan Emergency Management. “It’s great to see how the North Okanagan pulls together.”
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REGIONAL DISTRICT OF NORTH OKANAGAN PHOTO
A raging Cooke Creek wipes out a section of Mabel Lake Road in the Kingfisher area.
Highway 97 accident claims life of Vernon teen Morning Star Staff
A 14-year-old Vernon boy died after the vehicle he was in struck another on Sunday afternoon. Lake Country RCMP responded to a two-vehicle collision on Highway 97 near Crystal Waters Road shortly before 4 p.m. “Apparently, a black Dodge pickup was travelling southbound in the outside lane when it was struck, head-on, by a northbound white Pontiac Sunfire,” said RCMP spokesperson Const. Kris Clark. “According to witnesses, the Pontiac was moving with the flow of traffic when it suddenly swerved left across oncoming lanes and impacted the Dodge pickup. “The force of the collision caused the truck to overturn onto its roof while the Pontiac was sent into the ditch on the south-
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Emergency crews respond to a fatal accident on Highway 97 between Vernon and Lake Country Sunday afternoon above Crystal Waters Road. bound side of the highway.” The passenger of the Pontiac, a 14-year-
old Vernon boy, sustained fatal injuries and died at the scene. The driver, a 17-year-old
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Vernon male, suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries and was airlifted to Kelowna General Hospital. The passenger of the pickup truck, a 25-year-old Lumby woman also suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries while the driver, a 26-year-old Lumby man, was relatively unscathed. The initial investigation suggests that neither speed nor alcohol are factors in the crash. The investigation is ongoing. No names have been released. Anyone with any information who has yet to speak with police is asked to contact the Central Okanagan Traffic Services, Cst Danilowich, at 250-980-5353. Remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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