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Vol. 63, Issue 177
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Cause of dead fish in Joseph Creek unknown Arne Petryshen Townsman Staff What has caused a number of fish to die in Joseph Creek over the September 5 weekend is
not known. Ray Gilowitz, a conservation officer based out of Cranbrook, confirmed that fish had died in the creek for un-
known reasons. “The ministry doesn’t know at this point why it occurred,” he said. He said the COs were
initially called because of the reports of fish floating in the creek. Environment Canada has taken water samples and fish samples as well.
He said there are no known causes at this time. “The ministry is certainly aware of it, but there are no answers to
how or why it occurred at this point,” he said. Chris Zettel, the city’s corporate communication officer, said the city was made aware Mon-
day that something occurred over the weekend in regards to the fish.
See CAUSE, Page 3
Cranbrook gang activity down due to RCMP work BARRY COULTER
A semi truck burned to the axlesThursday night on 4th Avenue South.
ARNE PETRYSHEN PHOTO
Semi burns up on residential street A R N E P E T RYS H E N
A semi truck burned on 4th Avenue South overnight Thursday, Sept. 11. Fire crews were on the scene to put out the blaze during the early morning hours. The call came in at 1:55 a.m. and by 3:56 a.m. the blaze was extinguished. Gord Yee, acting captain for the Cranbrook Fire and Emergency Services, said fire crews arrived to a fully in-
volved vehicle fire. He said there was no danger to nearby people or structures. “It was just parked on the side of the road, a residential street, so there was no exposures as far as dangers.” He said crews treat vehicle fires much the same as structural fires. “We just make sure that there are no exposures or hazards to anybody around, like
power lines, or fuels or anything like that,” he said. “We just try to control it as soon as possible before it spreads to anything else.” Six firefighters responded to the call. Yee said the cause is undetermined. He said it is under investigating, but not by fire crews. Rather it will be ICBC and/or the RCMP. Yee said they do get quite a
few vehicle fires over the course of the year. “It’s pretty common,” he said. Neighbours reported hearing the tires explode. “Which is quite common when you have a fully involved vehicle of course tires are going to overheat and catch on fire and with the air inside them you are going to hear the explosions and stuff like that from them,” he said.
The new head of B.C.’s anti-gang agency says police have made “significant headway in the efforts to curtail gang activity.” Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit chief officer Kevin Hackett said earlier this month that the “significant decline” in organized crime homicides comes after a series of high-profile investigations leading to charges, as well as new initiatives to prevent or reduce gang membership. Nearly 100 organized crime figures or gang-related individuals were arrested and charged last year with more than 270 offences in close to 30 B.C. communities, Hackett said. In Cranbrook, gang activity, particularly in the drug trade, is down, after intense police work. Four years ago, RCMP
intervened in a feud between two rival Cranbrook gangs, that had burst out into the open with the shooting of one gang member in front of the Sam Steele Hotel in Cranbrook, in Oct. 2009. Victim Chad Everett Munroe was shot several times in the dispute between two rival groups, but survived. The violence in Cranbrook was part of what police there described as a war for control of the Kootenay drug trade between rival gangs, with significant links to organized crime throughout the Kootenay and southern Alberta regions. In May of 2010, likely as result of the shooting and the ongoing feud, two innocent people — Leanne MacFarlane and Jeffrey Taylor — were murdered in a Mayook cabin just east of Cranbrook.
See GANG , Page 5
Caldwell Agencies
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