Celebrating Prince Rupert Bursary Recipients • Pages 10-12 VOL. 10 NO. 27
PRINCE RUPERT Wednesday, July 8, 2015
FREE
Major fires prompt Port Ed evacuations, Rupert landmark destroyed Saturday evening fire leaves renters homeless
News
BY KEVIN CAMPBELL
Glass sponge reefs may shatter Page A4
PRINCE RUPERT / The Northern View
Two major fires erupted in both Port Edward and Prince Rupert on the weekend, causing the area’s fire departments and RCMP forces to be tied up for hours containing them. No injuries have been reported in either instance. The first blaze occurred on Skeena Drive in Port Edward at 5:50 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Port Edward v o l u n t e e r firefighters - Dave Mckenzie responded to a call of a brush fire behind Kristoff Trucking and near Evergreen Drive. They soon called for reinforcements from the Prince Rupert Fire Department. See FIRES on Page A2
“The apartments
took severe damage ... they won’t be used again.”
Feature Heart of our city: Wayne Fast Page A5 Rebecca Watson / The Northern View
Third Avenue was cordoned off following a major blaze at the New Moon Restaurant building on Saturday night. The fire was the second in as many days after a major brush fire flared up near Port Edward on Friday. The causes of the fires remains under investigation.
High temperatures blamed for fuel oil leak Amounts from abandoned pipe deemed minor
Community Cow Bay celebrates its special day Page A8
Sports Firefighters scramble ... to golf course Page A13
BY REBECCA WATSON PRINCE RUPERT / The Northern View
The Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) has finished the clean-up of an oil leak from an abandoned pipe in Prince Rupert harbour. “The oil has been removed and the environment is back to [a] pristine state,” Robert Stromdahl, WCMRC north coast manager, said. Cleaning began Monday after a sheen was observed in the harbour by Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) staff. “It appears old bunker fuel was a residue in a pipe and with the higher temperatures we’ve had recently the viscosity was reduced and became liquefied turning into a very small drip on the north shore,” Michael Gurney, PRPA manager of communications, said. Gurney added the age
Street Upgrades Underway
$125,000
PRIME 5,000 Sq. Ft. COMMERCIAL LOT 700 Fraser Street, Prince Rupert
Rebecca Watson / The Northern View A water absorbent boom surrounds a pipe leaking fuel oil near the Prince Rupert harbour.
of the pipe is not directly known but is believed to have carried bunker fuel from a storage facility.
“It’s a very small quantity and has only been dripping for a couple of days based on our observations.” Crews will continue to monitor the boom over the next few days but Stromdahl says all the oil has been lifted from the area. “We received approval to use a unified releasing agent — a product used to lift the oil off the rocksand remobilize the oil. If there was a substantial amount we would use manual skimmers but this was a small concentrated area so we used a snare and observant boom and pads to collect the oil and cleaned it up that way.” Since WCMRC crews were able to deal with the seepage before high tide, the oil was contained to a small area, Stromdahl said. “It was a successful cleanup, everyone acted proactively to get this done in a quick manner, so no oil actually reached the marine environment.”
Gordon Kobza
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