READY TO ROCK | Canadian music legend Burton Cummings rolls into Vernon March 15 [A5]
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Car crash causes evacuations JENNIFER SMITH
Morning Star Staff
An emergency situation broke out in Lavington Thursday as natural gas spewed into the air, causing evacuations and detours. A motorist travelling eastbound on Highway 6 lost control and struck an aboveground structure protecting a high-pressure gas line at approximately 9 a.m. The driver was taken to Vernon Jubilee Hospital with undetermined injuries. Kelly Kirkland lives across Highway 6 from where the incident took place, at the corner of Park Lane. “I heard a big bang and I looked out the window and there was a bunch of brown-like grey smoke billowing out at the corner of Park Lane and the highway,” said Kirkland, as she peered out her hillside home. “I just immediately called 911 because I was pretty sure it was a gas line.” The line, which transports gas from Vernon to Lumby and beyond, continued to spew gas for most of the day. “It’s very, very loud down there,” said Kirkland of the noise of gas escaping the line. “You can hear the hissing, it’s so loud, from my house.” She adds: “And you can really smell it.” In fact the rotten-egg smell was detected as far as Vernon, more than 20 kilometres away. Kirkland, along with all residents on both sides of the highway between Hill Drive and Springfield Road were evacuated from their homes while Terasen and emergency crews dealt with the situation. As a precaution, the Vernon School District also evacuated Lavington Elementary students, transporting them to Coldstream Elementary. The Coldstream Women’s Institute was the reception area for evacuated residents to make contact with Emergency Social
JENNIFER SMITH/MORNING STAR
Gas leaks from a high-pressure line at Highway 6 at Park Lane in Lavington, where a vehicle took out the protective structure surrounding a valve Thursday morning, caused an emergency situation in the area. Visit vernonmorningstar.com for a video and updates. Services. It was unknown, as of press time, when residents might be able to return to their homes. Since the car was sitting right on top of the gas line, and due to its high pressure, crews could not simply move the car to fix the line due to the potential for spark. “It’s definitely a high-pressure line,” said Lumby RCMP Cpl. Henry Proce while on
scene. “You can hear it venting so if it were to erupt in flames it would be quite the scene.” Michael Allison, spokesperson for Fortis BC, anticipated crews would be able to bring gas under control Thursday evening. But while repairs are made, customers in Lumby would be cut off the service. “We do thank customers, we know this is a big inconvenience to people especially since I hear it’s quite cold there,” said Allison,
adding that crews would be going door-todoor to re-light homes with gas furnaces. Despite the strong odour, Allison says the safest way to deal with the situation was to let gas blow clear. “Since it is all clear, we can see it, we know where it is and we can see it’s dissipating,” he said, as crews determined the best course of action to fix the break. “Ultimately our goal is safety.”
Bengtson, Enderby’s chief administrative officer. While residents won’t be able to access city hall today, the answering service will monitor all incoming calls and forward them to the appropriate department. Regular public works and parks and recreation services will not be interrupted. “We’ve structured things to try and minimize the impact to the public as much as possible,” said Bengtson.
Staff members who are unable to work because of filming have voluntarily agreed to take today as a holiday so there is no additional cost to the city. And city hall is being provided to producers for free. “Enderby is being looked at as an important place for films and we want to demonstrate our willingness to make film shoots easy,” said Bengston. Enderby hosted a George Clooney film
last year and Go With Me is being produced by Rick Dugdale who grew up in the community. It’s believed the interior shots from city hall will be paired up with exterior shots of another Enderby building during the film. City staff will be present today for security but Bengtson says no employees have been asked to be extras. “I don’t think I’m made for film,” he joked when asked if he would have a starring role.
Lights, camera, action at Enderby city hall
RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff
The people’s business is being interrupted by star power in Enderby. City hall will be closed to the public today as it’s being used for interior shots for the movie Go With Me, which stars Anthony Hopkins and Ray Liotta. “They were looking at a variety of spots and they saw city hall and they thought it would be an ideal location,” said Tate
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