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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 2013
VOL 116 NO. 26
page 16
❚ Hello Newman Phoenix gets money
Grand Forks, BC
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Put ‘er there partner The Pharmasave Christina Lake Sprint Triathlon took place on Sunday and the team with the best time was Grand Forks Secondary School teacher Graham Cocksedge and principal Scott Stewart – with the principal taking part in the swimming event and the teacher cycling and running. The two finished with a time of 1:11:09. For more see page 30 and www.grandforksgazette.ca for photos. For a story on the Grand Forks Rotary Club’s potato and chili lunch at the triathlon, see this week’s issue of the West Kootenay Advertiser. KARL YU PHOTO
Brian Thate
250-442-7370 www.brianthate.com
LITTLE OAK REALTY
❚ UTILITIES
Accident at dump causes outage
KARL YU
Gazette Editor
Your Hometown
REALTORS® Curious about the market? Come by and talk to us. We’ll have the coffee on!
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A huge section of Grand Forks was without power after an accident at the local landfill last Wednesday. Areas of Riverside Drive were affected, as well as most of downtown, Valley Heights, Granby Road and the industrial area of Grand Forks, including Interfor – Hal Wright, City of Grand Forks manager of operations, estimated half the city was affected. Wright said that the accident involved an excavator clipping wires and pulling down a pole at the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) garbage dump on Granby Road. “A gentleman was trapped in (the excavator) until power could be disconnected and the excavator could be removed and he could get out safely. He’s fine, thank goodness, but as a result, all the power (was) taken out for half of downtown and Riverside Drive,” explained Wright.
“It was a pretty large power outage.” According to the City of Grand Forks, FortisBC aided in restoring power to Interfor and half of downtown in the first hour and power was restored to all customers around 1 p.m. that afternoon due to required repairs that involved safely energizing remaining energy lines. The city’s electrical staff took the subsequent two days to complete repairs at both the landfill and at the electrical substation. The accident at the landfill caused a chain reaction throughout the city, knocking out power and causing sparks to fly from a pole near the Imperial Motel. Jackie Metcalfe, an administrator at Granby Dental on Riverside Drive, said appointments had to be cancelled due to the outage and she saw sparks flying as she was coming into work. “As I was getting out of the car this morning, I think it was a transformer by the Imperial Motel, flashed. It was like a burst of sparks and light
and then there was a boom,” she said. “When I came in, the power was out.” The Grand Forks Credit Union was also affected by the outage. “Our power was off for about an hour,” said Angela Soukoreff, marketing and communications manager for the credit union. “We were not able to open our doors to our members until almost 10:45 a.m. as the system had some issues when restarted because of the duration of the outage.” The RDKB did not immediately respond to a call on Monday but CAO John MacLean had told the Gazette on Friday that the regional district was conducting an investigation. The City of Grand Forks said that during future outages, updates will be announced to local radio stations and information will also be made available through the city electrical emergency number 250-442-2033
EVERYONE LOVES A PARADE! …… and your invited to join in! There’s still time to register your group, business, or organization to be part of this year’s CANADA DAY PARADE
It’s Free! It’s Fun! ….. and there’s prizes (ribbons for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place)
This year’s theme is “Youth in the Community”
Pick up and drop off your registration forms at Yaletown Acupuncture, 235 72nd Ave., Your Dollar Store with More 222 72nd Ave., or the Grand Forks Gazette, 7330 2nd Street. Or email: gfparades@gmail.com
Second Class Registration # PM0034