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Language skill earns student trip to Germany.
Forum on agriculture on Monday.
Hockey academy makes a move.
Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • F R I D AY, J U N E 1 2 , 2 0 1 5
Two men disappear after trying to swim to shore Lorene Keitch Black Press
Jennifer Feinberg The Progress
Don’t even think of flicking a lit cigarette butt right now. From backyards to the back country of Chilliwack, it’s really dry out there. That means heightened fire risk and extra vigilance by everyone is needed to prevent fires from breaking out, say officials. By comparison to this time last year, it’s about 20 per ccent drier, said Lisa Axelson, fire prevenA The fuel tion education officer load is just with the Chilliwack Fire Department. huge Low snow pack levels in the upper Fraser watersheds ~ Lisa spring and much Axelson this less rain is taking its toll. The Chilliwack area has already seen a few hedge fires, bark mulch fires, and grass fires, and the Fraser Valley Regional District has had to put out a few wildfires. Axelson is an avid hiker, and said she noticed the impact of much less rain than usual in the region’s typically damp forested areas. “It’s very dry and that means lots of dried out fuel on the forest floor,” she said. Anyone heading up the popular Teapot Hill, for example, will notice it’s even dry in areas that usually stay moist. “The fuel load is just huge,” she said. Anyone using incendiary devices, including smoking materials, need to make sure they’re not dropped onto bark mulch, flicked on highway medians, or carelessly extinguished on the forest floor in the back country.
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Jean Mitchell, 89, was the first parishioner of Carman United Church to ring the bell in celebration of the United Church of Canada’s 90th anniversary on Wednesday. The nation-wide event welcomed all of the 3,000-plus congregations across Canada to ring their church bells 90 times that day. For more, see page 16. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
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Search called off for missing Harrison Lake swimmers
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Two Vancouver men left a dinghy on Harrison Lake two days ago and have not been seen since. On Monday, June 8, a group of eight friends decided to beat the heat by floating in a dinghy on Harrison Lake. Two of the friends decided to leave the drifting dingy to swim ashore, approximately 400 metres north of the boat rental dock in front of the Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa. At approximately 5:45 p.m. Monday evening, RCMP received a report that the two men, aged 23 and 25, both from Vancouver, had not been seen since leaving the dingy. RCMP, Kent Harrison Search and Rescue (KHSAR) and Chilliwack Search and Rescue conducted a search. KHSAR deployed two boats, two seadoos and most of their membership, to search eight square kilometres of Harrison Lake, the shoreline and the current of the Harrison River. RCMP also dispatched a boat. They were assisted by Chilliwack Search and Rescue who sent a ground crew of five to search the Sandy Cove trail and area. The search continued all day Tuesday, June 9 on the lake and Harrison river. According to RCMP, after exhausting all efforts to locate the missing swimmers, RCMP suspended their search by end of day Tuesday. “The area is immense and after a thorough search the missing men have not been found” said Sgt. J.D. Fredette of Agassiz Community Policing Office. By Wednesday morning, after discussions with RCMP’s underwater recovery team, KHSAR was requested to use their side scan sonar to search the lakebed in the approximate area where the two subjects were last seen. According to Neil Brewer with KHSAR, the search was scheduled to end at 4 p.m. today, pending further information. Continued: SEARCH/ p6
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Hot, dry weather heightens fire risk
■ R INGING I N 90 Y EARS