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Annex house fire leaves one man dead
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Teck releases fourth quarter financial results By Leah Scheitel Free Press Staff
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One win and two losses - Page 21 ELKFORD
Fire crews worked to contain a blaze that engulfed a residence on the corner of 13th avenue and 8th street on Friday afternoon. The lone male occupant of the house died in the fire. Photo by L. Scheitel
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By Leah Scheitel & Bryn Catton Free Press Staff
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69-year-old man is dead after a house fire engulfed a residence in the Annex. The BC Coroners Service identified the man as Aldo Scarpelli. At 4:44 p.m. on Feb. 12, Fernie Fire Rescue responded to the report of a structure fire. The structure fire was a house on the corner of 8th avenue and 13th street. Upon emergency crews arrival the home was fully engulfed in flames. Responding to the call was five units, comprised of 16 firefighters as well as additional emergency services. “After the initial assessment it was determined that the home was beyond saving and our role would be to operate in a defensive mode,” said Fire Chief Ted Ruiter. A defensive fire mode is determined when it is unsafe for crews to enter a structure. “Fire crews focused their efforts on saving the adjacent home and were successful in doing so,” said Ruiter. The adjacent home did suffer some damage due to its proximity to the blaze, however the extent of the damage was not specified and appeared to be minimal.
While authorities cannot confirm the cause of the fire, bystanders and witnesses say they heard an explosion outside of the residence. According to one witness, the explosion was so loud she thought two semi trucks had collided outside of her home. Witnesses also reported seeing an unresponsive male in a covered walkway at the front of the home. The man’s dog was safely secured outside of the residence at the time of the fire and was not harmed. The Fernie Fire Department was able to extinguish the blaze and worked into the evening to ensure it was safe for investigators. A RCMP Forensic team was able to examine the remains of the residence on Saturday morning. Investigators have ruled out foul play as being a factor in the fire and the man’s death. The man’s remains were removed from the residence on Saturday and next of kin has been notified. Due to the death of the occupant, Fernie Fire and Rescue is currently assisting the Coroner’s Office and the RCMP with the ongoing investigation. A memorial for Aldo Scarpelli will be held on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Catholic Church in Fernie.
ining company Teck released their fourth quarter financial results for 2015, reporting a loss of $459 million. Comparatively, Teck reported a $129 million profit at the end of 2014. The loss is blamed on low commodity prices. The financial loss equates to $16 million profit that is attributable to shareholders, or three cents earnings per share. This is down from 20 cents per share, or $116 million, at the fiscal end of 2014. “We were pleased with our operating performance in 2015, meeting our guidance, reducing our costs and raising nearly $1 billion through two streaming transactions to strengthen our balance sheet,” said Don Lindsay, President and CEO in a statement. “However, the commodity cycle continues to provide us with a very challenging environment such that our near-term priorities are to keep all of our operations cash flow positive, meet our commitment to Fort Hills with internal sources of funds, evaluate options to further strengthen our liquidity and maintain a strong financial position by ending the year without drawing on our lines of credit.” In relation to the steelmaking coal quarterly results, sales have remained flat compared to the 2014 numbers, while the revenue, realized price and production have all decreased. Revenue from steelmaking coal is down, 15 per cent, ending at $701 million, and production is down 0.4 per cent. Due to cost-saving measures, the unit costs of coal have decreased by 14 per cent, costing $78 per tonne. Steelmaking coal gross profit decreased 16 per cent when compared to the same quarter in 2014. Teck reported that the majority of their mines, with the exception of Quebrada Blanca and Pend Oreille, remained cash positive in the last quarter. They are projecting coal sales in the first quarter of 2015 to be at least 5.5 million tonnes of steelmaking coal.