WEDNESDAY JULY 22, 2015
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Vol. 120, Issue 113
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Youth Centre tackles graffiti Page 3
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
Crews respond to fire near Casino Quick action kept blaze contained BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
An observant driver heading up the Montrose cutoff prevented the Casino area from going up in smoke Monday afternoon. The 9-1-1 call came into Kootenay Boundary Regional Fire Rescue minutes before 4 p.m., says Fire Chief Terry Martin, mentioning someone driving to the Beaver Valley reported smoke. Nine firefighters from Company #4 were dispatched south of the Old Trail Bridge and eventually located the fire on the power lines near Casino, he explained. The quick response had the fire contained to an area of about 100 feet by 150 feet, Martin added. “As the fire was near power lines there was a member from Fortis on scene who did an amazing job of knocking down flare ups with a water back pack,” he said. “At no time were we worried about the fire spreading towards the residences at Casino.” Crews stayed on scene until 7 p.m. dousing flames by shuffling water back and forth from the Casino Road site. Cause of the fire remained undetermined Tuesday and no injuries were reported. Although most of the region had a brief dousing of rain Monday, thunderstorms kept Wildfire Service crews responding to 52 new wildfires, 50 of those lightning-caused. Thirty firefighters in the Boundary region were called to 23 new wildfires between Midway and Greenwood, the Southeast See LIGHTNING, Page 3
VALERIE ROSSI PHOTO
Pierre Cloutier stopped along a shady part of Columbia Gardens Road Tuesday morning to give his horses a rest and talk to the Trail Times about his trip across Canada.
Quebecer on cross-Canada cowboy trek Times Staff
A former workaholic from Quebec is pursuing his childhood dream of becoming a cowboy, with a trip out West by wagon train. Pierre Cloutier pulled into Trail Monday night to meet with horse enthusiasts at the Colander. The Back Country Horsemen Club treated him to a meal, gave him eight bales of hay for his horses and $200 to help him along his travels. Tuesday morning he was off to the Trail Horsemen's Grounds for the night before heading towards more hospitality at the Oasis community hall today and then pointing his four Belgians to Castlegar. “I had kind of a dead end in Quebec,” he told the Trail Times Tuesday. “I leave a separa-
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tion there, and a broken heart and I was kind of a workaholic, so I decided to drop everything and sell everything.” His horses have pulled him and two wagons, one a chuck wagon full of his gear and the other a covered wagon for his horses' supplies, about 4,800 kilometres to date. Cloutier and his dog ride up front, traveling about 15 kilometres a day and stopping at towns in between. He estimated he's met about 75 people a day in the eight months he's been on the road. “It's a guy like you who make a difference,” he said to Clay Johnson, a Columbia Gardens resident who donated two bags of horse feed en route Tuesday. Ross Spur's Rene Girolami tags along and directs traffic while Cloutier give his horses some water and a short rest on
BY VALERIE ROSSI
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the side of the road. The Francophone left his home in the beginning of November with intentions of heading west to the Okanagan. But now he's waiting for fate to decide where he'll take on his next ambition – starting a country western band and going on tour. “I decided to cross Canada like the old people did 200 years ago, move out West to find their gold,” he said. “To me, it's my gold, a new world, and new life.” The self-proclaimed “show cowboy” can't believe the generosity he has received along the way. The winter wasn't as hard as he'd imagined because Canadians opened their doors to him and provided shelter for his animals. See YEARNING, Page 2
Contact the Times: Phone: FineLine250-368-8551 Technologies 62937 Index 9 Fax:JN866-897-0678 80% 1.5 BWR NU Newsroom: 250-364-1242
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Canada Post, Contract number 42068012
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430 3rd Ave, Rivervale
4 bdrms, fenced yard
$175,000
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8207 Old Waneta Rd 3 bdrms, 2 baths
$239,000
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