May 15th, 2019

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Serving the Trading Areas of Wawa & District Hawk Junction & White River for over 50 years.

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Vol. 55 No. 19 1 Year Subscription for only $95.00 by Mail or $75.00 by Carrier Wednesday, May 15th, 2019 Contact Our Office in Wawa: Phone: (705)856-2267 Out-Of-Town Toll-Free: 1-800-461-9209 Website: www.thealgomanews.ca Fax: (705)856-4952 Email: waprint@vianet.ca

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Look Inside

École Saint-Joseph

Pg. 12: LDHC Thanks Wesdome and Donors Pg. 6: La Sante Mentale Council News-Pg. 2

Between The Covers - Pg. 4

Pg. 8: With Jim White

Find our ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY snipits throughout this edition!

Pg. 6: Tournoi de Badminton

Pg. 6: Carnaval D'Hiver

Artist Submissions . . . Pg. 11 Business Directory . . . . Pg. 2 Carol Hughes . . . . . . . . Pg. 12 Cartoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 10 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . Pg. 9-11 Community Events . . . . . Pg.3 Crime Scene . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 3 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 9 First United Church . . . . Pg. 8 Garbologist Report . . . Pg. 11 Heat Stroke, No Joke . Pg. 10 Horoscopes . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 9 Library Statement . . . . Pg. 11 Michael Mantha . . . . . . . Pg. 4 MNRF Bear Study . . . . . Pg. 3 Puzzles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 5 Weather . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pg. 8

Ontario Mine Rescue Has Algoma Region Teams Compete In Wawa

Article and Photos by Kari Smith   On Wednesday and Thursday of last week, May 8-9, three Algoma region Mine Rescue teams competed in the Ontario Mine Rescue Competitions. The three teams consisted of Barrick Gold, Alamos Gold, and Wesdome Gold Mines. They hope to see Harte Gold join the competitions as early as next year.   Although, official standings have not been released by Workplace Safety North yet, something has to be said about the atmosphere and friendly competition between these small-town teams. Family members such as brothers, cousins, uncles, fathers and sons, competing against each other. Teams of volunteers gathers behind the scenes to

61 Mission Road Wawa, Ontario P0S 1K0 Tel: 705-856-2394 Cell: 705-856-5595 Fax: 705-856-4290 alainbouffard@missionmotors.com www.missionmotors.com

help enact the competition task at hand. Family members gathered in the stands at the Michipicoten Memorial Community centre to watch. Even the Chief Judge was Wawa’s very own Michael Krell.   The arena floor was tarped off into a maze of hallways and stations to simulate an underground environment including fresh bases, and refuge stations. Even lighting was kept to a minimum. This exact same course was set up in 5 other places around Ontario in the same tie period for other regions to compete.   Each team starts with an emergency situation – “the problem”. This year the team got a call. In that call, on the 2000 level, there were reports of hearing a loud bang, a rush

of air, and smoke. The teams then need to alert everyone underground to seek refuge and report on their location. Do to this a stench is released into the airlines. As people arrive at the refuge stations or air tent, they radio and phone up on their location. The team evaluates who is where, and how many people have not made it to a refuge station. They ready their rescue, first aid, and air packs inspecting everything during the packing process.   As they move through the course, they encounter many problems. The refuge station doors have been blown open in one spot. They found people seeking refuge in an air tent, although the air hose was not hooked up to the tent. In the refuge station they check the lunch box and find a blood sugar tester and glucose packs and bring it with them. They find and assess the person with diabetes and make sure their sugar levels are ok. There is light smoke in the air. For everyone they encounter, they need to make sure they are safe and in a safe place to leave and move on further to ground 0.   They move further to deeper levels of the mine and find the scene of the accident. The Diamond driller is impaled in

the left lower abdomen with burns to his face, hands, and arms. The find that the drill has fallen over on his partner’s legs, pinning him under the equipment. There is a blue flame coming out of the hole they were drilling and a flame coming out of the hose. They must assess the fire threat, and their victims providing them with first aid, and then packing them for transport out of the mine.   There are several other competitions such as the 6 man competition, where one team member faces unique situations on his own. Other things that need to be considered is the constant air quality monitoring, making sure the air is safe to breath.   The competition was light and friendly between teams, but reflects a very serious reallife situations that can occur in their workplace at any time. Teams train hard and make sure they are prepared for when it does happen. As all families in the mining business know, they hope and pray that it doesn’t.   Mine rescue competitions, which started in Ontario in 1950, are as much intensive learning opportunities as a chance to test emergency response capabilities. The

competitions ensure that mine rescue volunteers across the province are trained to the same high standards.   Mine rescue team members, the backbone of Ontario Mine Rescue, are volunteer mine workers trained by Mine Rescue Officers to respond to all types of mine emergencies including fires, explosions and falls of ground.   Under the authority of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and headquartered in Sudbury, Ontario Mine Rescue staffs, equips and maintains a network of mine rescue stations across the province that ensure mines within a specified geographic area have adequate emergency response capability.   The winner of each district competition will compete in the 2019 Provincial Competition, June 4 to 7, at Newmont Goldcorp’s Red Lake Gold Mines in Red Lake..


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May 15th, 2019 by Algomanews - Issuu