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www.nanaimobulletin.com
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2015
VOL. 27, NO. 15
Hot weather fuels blaze I
TENANT CREDITED with alerting neighbours to fire engulfing home in south Nanaimo community. BY CHRIS BUSH THE NEWS BULLETIN
Whoa, Canada!
Makayla Brown, 2, is ready to rock Canada Day (July 1) at Maffeo Sutton Park with her dad Derek and mom Stacey. City of Nanaimo celebrations at the park feature four hours of free family fun, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with stage and roving entertainment, multicultural food fair and interactive booths, a celebration of flags and more. For more information, please visit www. nanaimo.ca. CHRIS BUSH/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Restrictions expected to help water supply last until fall BY CHRIS BUSH THE NEWS BULLETIN
Zero snowpack and little if any rain in the forecast has the city keeping close watch on water supply levels. The Jump Lake reservoir, which stores Nanaimo’s drinking water, is currently at 93 per cent of full storage capacity, which is below normal going into July. “That’s a pretty healthy storage level,” said Bill Sims, city manager of water resources. “We’re about a month earlier than we normally would be. Normally we like to be at 100 per cent full storage by July 1, but with the dry weather in May
and June we’ve had to start drawing down our reservoir early. Having said that, we project that we’ll be fine for the summer.” Sims said Nanaimo residents have cut water use since the city started charging user rates reflecting the full cost of water delivery in 1980. Since 2010, water consumption overall has dropped about 10 per cent and continues to fall about one to two per cent annually despite a growing population. People turned their taps down to cut daily water use by seven per cent from 60 million litres per day to 55 million the week following the start of Level 2 water restrictions.
At that rate, assuming the drought continues through the summer, Nanaimo’s water supply will last into October, Sims said. “We’re definitely concerned, but we’re also confident,” Sims said. Julie Pisani, Regional District of Nanaimo drinking water and watershed protection program coordinator, said water levels at the Arrowsmith Dam, which supplies water to Parksville and Nanoose, is also below capacity. “That dam is usually at about 98 per cent full at this time of year,” Pisani said. “Right now it’s at 87 per cent.” See ‘WELLS’ /5
High temperatures and winds contributed to a blaze that destroyed one house, caused heavy damage to two others and displaced 10 people on the weekend. Nanaimo Fire Rescue came up against a home that was fully ablaze and two others burning when they arrived at Southwood Drive shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday. Alan Millbank, fire prevention officer, credits a tenant at 1057 Southwood Dr. who spotted the fire engulfing his neighbour’s home at 1061 Southwood Dr. “He banged on doors and finally broke his way in,” Millbank said. “The people inside thought they were being invaded.” All three occupants escaped out a window. Millbank was still finalizing his investigation Monday before he’d officially say what caused the fire, but said it was accidental and started on the patio of the home, burned its way up the back wall and into the soffits and attic. Smoke and fire were not close enough to trigger smoke alarms. The fire also ignited the home’s natural gas supply when it burned through the meter connections. Winds whipped embers onto neighbouring homes, igniting fires that caused the roof to collapse at 1065 Southwood Dr. The rest of the home suffered moderate exterior fire damage and water damage. Three fire hydrants were used to supply enough water to bring the blazes under control. “It was super windy,” Millbank said. “Hot. It was really dry. Over 30 degrees outside at 2 a.m. They’re lucky they didn’t lose more houses.” No one was injured. All homeowners were insured, but tenants of two of the homes were not. photos@nanaimobulletin.com Highline modelOshown
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