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www.gregmonforton.com Volume 3, Issue 39
Weekend Weather Thursday
H 23º L 13º
Friday
H 17º L 16º
Saturday
H 10º L 7º
Sunday
H 8º L 4º
As reported from Environment Canada www.weatheroffice.gc.ca Harrow AAFC
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Louie Saad is Alf Bennie winner Louie Saad is the 2012 Leamington and District Chamber of Commerce Alf Bennie Award winner. Saad, the broker of record for 16 salespeople and owner of Realty House Sun Parlour Inc. Brokerage, was surprised by the honour revealed at the 18th annual Leamington and District Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards night on Wednesday, October 17.
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Saad has been involved in many community committees and organizations including Tomato Festival Committee, Economic Development Committee, Mennonite Gala, Hospital Gala and Leamington Soccer. Louie and wife Becky have five children. “I know what the Alf Bennie Award is and I know what it means… I know some past recipients and I’m honoured to be in their company,” said Saad. He said his parents came to Canada (Leamington) in the 1960s and have remained in the area. “I just love this community. I love Leamington,” he said. “I must thank Realty House and all my staff,” he said. “And, I’d be remiss to not thank my wife. Becky is the Hercules of the company and mother of my five children,” he said.
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LFD acquiring vital data with CommandScope By Bryan Jessop
Leamington firefighters have added another vital tool in their efforts to save lives and prevent extensive property damage. The Leamington Fire Department became the first in Ontario — and possibly Canada — to acquire CommandScope, a Chicago-developed computer program designed to provide firefighters with crucial information regarding structures that become the sites of emergency response calls. More than 800 buildings in the municipality are eligible to be entered in the department’s CommandScope database, including industrial and commercial structures. Installed onto laptop and in-station computers used by the LFD, CommandScope provides firefighters with information such as a building’s keyholder(s) contact information, floor plans for each level and the location/description of staircases, shut off areas and the type, quantity and location of any hazardous materials. Leamington Fire Department Chief Chuck Parsons discovered the program during the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs’ trade show in Toronto in May of this year. Parsons had been in search of such software for quite some time and after observing the demonstrations at the trade show, decided that his search was over. “It’s a really good system,” he said. “It can save us a lot of time, it can help us prevent costly damage and it can save lives.” The LFD acquired CommandScope in early September and with the half day of training required for each firefighter now complete, initial information for the first group of participating building owners is now being entered into the new
Leamington Fire Department Chief Chuck Parsons.
system. Parsons explained that all information made available to firefighters through CommandScope is vital to minimizing damage to both the interior and exterior of structures where his crew is being called. “Some people don’t understand why we have to know where water shutoff areas are. The truth is that a lot of early morning calls come from water damage that has short circuited an alarm system.” Parsons continued by noting that when a key holder can be contacted during off-hours to allow firefighters into his or her building, the LFD can avoid breaking down locked doors and in cases of water damage, disrupt the flow of leaking water and begin the clean-up process before more damage is inflicted. Four of six LFD trucks — both pumpers, the rescue
vehicle and the tanker — are equipped with CommandScope, as are six computers in the department’s Clark Street West office. The program included a total cost of just under $4,000 with an unlimited number of copies available to the department. Parsons would like to see as many of the 800 eligible buildings in Leamington as possible entered into the LFD’s CommandScope program. He noted that there is no charge to have a structure’s information entered in the program and that the online data form at http://www. leamington.ca/residents/ firedep_home.asp (click on Fire Pre-Plan Collection Form) only takes a few minutes to complete. “It makes for an easier, safer response for us,” Parsons said. “This (program) has everything we were looking for. It’s very user friendly and we don’t have
(SUN Photo)
to be connected to the web to use it.” For instances where the Leamington Fire Department requires assistance from neighbouring stations in Kingsville and/ or Lakeshore, ‘read only’ copies of CommandScope files can be sent to their computers. “We’re familiar with a lot of the buildings here in town, but that’s not necessarily the case for firefighters in Kingsville or Lakeshore,” Parsons said. “Having access to this information will be really useful for them.” The LFD plans to bring on a co-op student in January to help collect data to be entered in CommandScope. Owners of buildings eligible to be entered in the system can contact the Leamington Fire Department at 519-326-6291 with any questions.
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