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South Green Lake firefighters douse blaze in -18 C temperature
Ken Alexander Free Press
South Green Lake Volunteer Fire Department received a callout for a structure fire at 950 Green Lake South Road at 9:58 a.m. on Dec. 31, and responded with two pumper trucks, and tender truck and 13 firefighters within 24 minutes. Unfortunately, the cabin was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. The lone occupant made it out of the building with the family dog and a few personal items. Neighbours were able to push the owner’s vehicle out to the road. Fire chief Peter McKie says they ran two 1 1/2-inch attack lines up to the building to contain the fire and protect exposures, including a shed, outhouse and another vehicle. “We put 6,450 gallons of
Cheryl Groves photo
This cabin at 950 Green Lake South Road was fully engulfed in flames when 13 South Green Lake Volunteer Fire Department firefighters arrived at the scene at 10:22 a.m. on Dec. 31. Firefighters were able contain the fire and protect exposures, including a shed, outhouse and a vehicle.
water on the burning structure, with two tender shuttles and two pumper tanks. Even with the cold conditions of -18 C, there were only a couple of minor issues. “It was a well-co-ordinated attack by the firefighters and there were no injuries.”
He notes BC Ambulance Services arrived at the scene around 10:45 a.m., with the RCMP attending at 11:25 a.m. and BC Hydro arriving at 12:25 p.m. All units returned to the fire hall around 1:30 p.m. Two firefighters were left
at the scene to monitor the smoking and watch for hot spots flaring up. Some members returned to the scene at 3 p.m. and put 350 gallons of water on the structure. They attended again at 7 p.m. and pumped another 350 gallons on the
charred rubble. At that point, the fire was fully extinguished, says McKie. The owner indicated he was pleased with the fire department’s quick response and was also happy firefighters were able to protect the outbuildings.
Council passed snow and ice removal policy District of 100 Mile House council recently approved a Snow and Ice Removal Policy that will minimize the “risk” of “slip-and-fall” claims and put teeth into business and residential snow removal requirements. The memo to staff noted the District has historically received a slip-and-fall claim every two or three years, and on each occasion, the Municipal Insurance Association of British Columbia has recommended a settlement, “due in part to a lack of policy and/or evi-
dence of compliance with a policy for addressing snow and ice of municipal streets.” It was also noted the existence of a policy doesn’t preclude the success of a claim against the District, but it does strengthen the District’s defence against any claims of this nature. The new policy details the implementation of action to take at certain levels of snowfall, snow clearing priorities, snow removal, disposal, assistance to rescue vehicles and personnel and sidewalks Sidewalks will be inspected
weekly to ensure any excess ice buildup is addressed. Sidewalks will be plowed and sanded during or after all snow falls were accumulation is more than two centimetres, and additional sanding will be done between snow events as determined by weekly inspections. Plowing and sanding of sidewalks will prioritized: downtown core; Highway 97 frontage; and residential areas. District employees assigned to road and sidewalk duties must inspect and
record conditions on specifics forms. Snow removal has been a bit of a problem in the past, and according to District operations director Phil Strain, the new policy sets clear direction as to what can and cannot be done when snow is being removed from a property within District boundaries. The policy reads: Residents, business and contractors shall not dispose of snow accumulations from private property on rightsof-way, roads, lanes or
walkways within the District boundaries. Residents and business in areas with District sidewalks adjacent to roads be permitted to place snow from the sidewalk on to the road.” Strain told the Dec. 8 council meeting that this section of the policy addresses people in several areas of the District who plow snow from private property into District rightsof-way, into ditches and piling it up, which can cause line of sight issues. Continued on A7