Kettle River Museum Presents
Tiller’s Folly FUNDRAISER FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE ROCK CREEK FIRE
September 11, 2015 Call 250-449-2614 to get your tickets
$
1.10
Includes tax
OPINION
Times THE BOUNDARY CREEK
Thursday, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015
VOL. 33 Number 37
CLUB HAPPENINGS
From the devastation there slowly emerged a beauty, of sorts, or, at least, a promise thereof. P
4
The Rock Creek Women’s Institute is commemorating its anniversary with a special calendar. P
5
EDUCATION
Enrolment in SD51’s 11 institutions remains steady. P
16
Brace for ‘Godzilla’
Wing Night
Wednesday 5 - 8 pm
Texas Holdem Poker
El Niño could be strongest of our generation
Thursday, Registration 6:30 pm
Karaoke
ANDREW TRIPP
Saturday, September 26 8:30 pm Family Friendly • Rooms Available
Boundary Creek Times Reporter
250-449-2655
Bob Bugeaud 250-449-1982
bordercountrybob.ca
It’s back to school time! Teacher Nick Bond greets students as they return for a new school year. See story and photos on page A16. PHOTO: ANDREW TRIPP
KELOWNA (Wstbrg)
Stories a way of healing
The stories from that fateful Aug. 13 af- These stories will, in time, all be told, as the ternoon in Rock Creek, which saw a wildfire return to a semblance of normalcy slowly ravage a mountainside and tear unabated up unfolds. Here is one of those stories: 1-250-446-6808 a heavily treed and populated corridor where Fire on the mountain— it destroyed 28 homes, continue to emerge. �������������������������� ��������������������������������������� a Hulme Creek story Some of the storytellers are just comby B. Scott ing to grips with their losses and feel a “Fire on the mountain, lightning in the need to share their experiences; others are seeking to express their gratitude for the air, gold in them hills and it’s waiting for efforts of their neighbours, who helped me there”; Marshall Tucker Band 1975. divert a certain disaster with their firefight- This song has nothing to do with the Rock 0 24543 16681 8 ing expertise and willingness to apply it. • See STORIES page A9 Located in Westbridge and proud to service the area
loans for all purposes
HERITAGE HERITAGE
a new purchase or unexpected expenses. we have a loan product for all your needs
online: www.heritagecu.ca
Boundary Branch C REDIT U NION West Castlegar West Boundary Branch
C REDIT U NION TRADITIONAL SERVICE PERSON NLINE ININ TRADITIONAL SERVICE PERSON &&OO NLINE
“If you thought the winter of 2014 to 2015 was warm and dry, think again. Scientists are predicting this coming season to bring the strongest El Nino since 1997.” So say the weather prognosticators about the upcoming year, which does not bode well for everything from crops to the potential for wildfires, to another bust season for many ski resorts. Dubbed the “Godzilla El Niño” by NASA scientist Bill Patzert, this year’s weather pattern is predicted to bring substantial moisture to normally dry regions and dry weather to areas more accustomed to rain and snow. While this may herald a start to the end of California’s current drought, it does not promise much in the way of moisture to B.C., including the coastal regions, which are predicted to struggle again with a low snowpack, belownormal precipitation and unseasonably warm temperatures. This scenario may not be at all disappointing for the average Vancouverite, but this weather pattern could have an extremely negative impact on various industries throughout the province. Without a solid snowpack, already arid regions like the Boundary will struggle with crop growth, aquifer levels and, as its residents learned this year, the extreme risk of wildfires. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared the arrival of the “long-anticipated” El Niño back in March, citing records of above-average sea temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific. It has certainly lived up to expectations, with unpredictable weather patterns the norm across the continent. “This definitely has the potential of being the Godzilla El Niño,” said Patzert, who is a climatologist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He also claims that signals from the Pacific Ocean indicate this El Niño is stronger than that which occurred in 1997, the most powerful El Niño on record. “This potentially could be the El Niño of our generation,” he told the Los Angeles Times.
256256 Copper, 76box #S. 100 630 -Box 17th Street, S. -Copper, p.o. 76, Castlegar, B.C. V1N Greenwood, b.c. voh ijo Greenwood, BC V0H 1J04G7 phone: 250-365-7232 Phone: 250-445-9900 Tel: 250-445-9900 Fax: 250-365-2913 Fax: 250-445-9902 Fax: 250-445-9902
Slocan valley 3014 Hwy 6, P.O. Box 39, Slocan Park, B.C. V0G 2E0 Tel: 250-226-7212 Fax: 250-226-7351
online: www.heritagecu.ca a