WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2008 Established 1988.
SERVING NELSON & AREA
VOLUME 21, NUMBER 03
Crash kills woman
INSIDE FBI hunt
Speed suspected a factor in death of woman
The RCMP and FBI believe an “ecoterrorist” has been living in the Nelson area for the last year and a half. PAGE 3
by Chris Shepherd
Feel the burn Olympic torch relay to stop in Nelson. PAGE 4
CHRIS SHEPHERD
A detail of the 1938 LaFrance pumper truck that was donated to the Nelson fire department.
Fire department gets historic truck Pumper truck missing for decades donated to Nelson’s fire department by Chris Shepherd
Panto arrives Annual pantomime sends up Little Red Riding Hood. PAGE 12
Editorial . . . . Street Talk . . Crossword . . A&E . . . . . . . . Sports & Rec Events . . . . . . Health . . . . . . Classifieds . .
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..8 ..8 . 20 . 12 ..9 . 16 . 17 . 19
Homes&Gardens . 23
As Nelson’s fire chief, Simon Grypma usually wants to get new equipment, but last week he was excited to receive a rusty, 70-year-old fire truck. The 1938 Ford LaFrance pumper truck was once part of the Nelson fire department’s fleet and was donated to Nelson by Gerry Rempel, chief of Castlegar’s fire department. Grypma was thrilled because the LaFrance had been “missing” for decades. The LaFrance was the second motorized fire truck Nelson bought, says Grypma, and it
CHRIS SHEPHERD
Castlegar fire chief Gerry Rempel, right, decided to give the 1938 fire truck to the Nelson fire department, headed by Simon Grypma.
responded to some of the biggest fires in the city’s history including the 1955 Strathcona Hotel fire that killed five people.
In 1957 the LaFrance was sold to Montrose’s fire department and when the fire truck was sold again in 1975, it dropped off the map.
Hazeldean Gallery
CUSTOMER APPRECIATION DAY Sat.Nov.29th
Wild Prawn
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352-0660
402 Baker St. Nelson Trading Co.
The mystery was solved roughly five years ago when Grypma and Rempel met and it came out that Rempel had the LaFrance stored in a farmer’s field in Vallican. Rempel was just 19 when he bought the LaFrance and he had planned on restoring it. He got as far as rebuilding the engine, a V8 flathead, with the help of a friend when life became busy for Rempel. The LaFrance sat in the field for 32 years until it was hauled to the Nelson fire department’s station last week.
See HISTORIC p.5…
A Nelson woman was killed in a singlevehicle accident in front of City Hall over the weekend. Sandra Wiens, originally from the Creston area, died at the scene of the accident, said Inspector Henry Paivarinta of the Nelson Police Department. Police received the call about the accident at 4:45 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22. Wiens’s late model Pontiac had gone out of control as she drove westbound. The car went up onto the sidewalk and struck a large highway sign post. Police believe Wiens died instantly as a result of head injuries sustained from the accident. She was not wearing a seatbelt and police believe speed was a factor in the crash. Insp. Paivarinta says road conditions were not icy at the time of the accident. Police closed the highway for four hours while they investigated. Police had a number of accidents over the weekend, including a 20-year-old driver in Rosemont who went off the road and hit a large rock. Police found the man, still driving his severly damaged truck, and pulled him over. He was charged with impaired driving and refusal to give a breath sample to police.
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