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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-12-23, Page 3Times -Advocate, December 23, 1992 Pape 3 Centralia Airport prepared for disaster By Pred Groves T -A staff HURON PARK - Would you know what to do in case of an emergency? That was the question posed to over 100 fire, ambulance and police per- sonnel Thursday at a disaster seminar. A -simulated disaster was set up, which had a 727 aircraft crashing into a Centralia College residence which houses 200 students. What the seminar did was give a representative from each emergency service a chance to say what they would do if such a disaster really did happen. No doubt the first on the scene, other than people from the college, would be officers from the Exeter Ontario Provincial Police detachment. Exeter Staff Sgt. Don McInnis, one of the several speakers at the semi- nar, was involved in the planning and research of the seminar. If an actual disaster did occur, he would become the original site commander. "When you originally go on the scene, someone has to be in charge. In a disaster there are at least a dozen places that need someone in charge," said McInnis. From supervising the operations in a mobile command unit, overseeing what goes in and comes out in a property room to keeping the public in- formed, are all areas which need someone in charge, probably an OPP of- ficer holding the rank of sergeant or higher. McInnis said Centralia College was selected as the site of the simulated disaster because, according to Transport Canada, this immediate area is the highest air traffic zone in North America. "They picked Centralia because it is so close to three OPP districts and there are a lot of older planes coming in to be refurbished." The runway at the Centralia airport was recently renovated which will now allow Clearwater Aircraft Maintenace, which paints and repairs air- planes, to work on much larger planes. The OPP, who paid for the expense of the seminar, had thought about actually having a mock disaster at the college. "This was originally going to be a mock disaster but it was too costly," said McInnis. At the seminar, no detail was too small and all possible scenarios were taken into consideration. Members of the London Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, local ambulance, hospital and even funeral personnel Lucan financial picture bright LUCAN - After a review of revel nue and • expenditures to ' date in 1992 with treasurer Ruth Meszaros, Council learned last Tuesday night that the overall pieture was bright. Meszaros' report revealed that at the end of November the village was about $28,000 under overall estimated costs. Some of this expected surplus will be spent before the end of the year, but the village will definitely be in the black by the end of De- cember. Council agreed to donate $5,000 to refurbishing of the Lucan swim- ming pool which will be included in this year's budget along with $1,500 to be spent on street light conversion. Also contributing to lower costs were elimination of the annual Christmas appreciation party, a five percent cut in council salaries, low- er road expenditures and garbage collection fees. Council also learned that the defi- cit at the arena is down sharply and the village's share will be almost half of the figure budgeted for. The gas conversion plan at the arena instituted this year has result- ed in a 20 percent decrease in ener- gy costs and more summer ice time was booked. The townships of London and McGillivray have already provided $5,000 each to the swim pool pro- ject. Councillor Rob Brady, a member of the arena board said including municipal donations and revenue from the cash calendar tottery, $140,000 was already received. Estimates for the entire project came in at $190,000. Brady said he honestly felt the engineering estimates will be well over the actual cost. He added, "This is a good time of the year to call for tenders." Supporting the $5,000 grant to the pool project, McLaughlin said, "I feel Lucan gets the biggest bene- fit when it comes to free swim- ming. A lot of children take advan tage of this program." were involved. The London Police said they could have as many as 50 officers at the scene within half an hour. OPP superintendents said they have a mobile command unit, a 65 -foot trailer at their disposal as well as helicopters and all terrain vehicles. Clinton Fire Chief Fred Lobb, the Huron county Fre Co-ordinator was also at the seminar and he said such a disaster could involved up to 70 fire- fighters. "It would be a real big undertaking, and probably take intercounty mutu- al aid," said Lobb. With a disaster involving a plane, comes the high risk of spilled fuel, Lobb said Huron County has a storage of foam. There are 30 five gallon pails of foam in Hensall and 30 pails in Blyth. As well, each fire truck carries a limited supply. Normal Pick -Up Friday, Dec. 25 Friday, Jan. 1 Holiday Garbage Schedule Changed to Thursday, Dec. 24 Thursday, Dec. 31 EXETER_ LANDFILL SITE SCHEDULE Dump Closed - Fri. Dec. 25 and Sat. Dec. 26 and Friday, Jan. 1 Glenn Kells, Town Superintendent The newly renovated facility of the Toronto Dominion Bank in Grand Bend was officially • opened last Tuesday morning. Cutting the ribbon from the left are Grand Bend branch manager Jud Bumstead, Toronto Dominion's senior vice-president Blair Slade and Grand Bend mayor Tom Lawson. Holding the ribbon at the right is bank employee Jim Campbell. The winner of a draw was Dave Sheppard of Grand Bend. Renovated TD banking facility in Grand Bend officially opens GRAND BEND - The Grand Bend branch of the Toronto Do- minion Bank has grown tremen- dously since it was first established in 1979. Last Tuesday morning, the newly renovated and added -to bank facili- ty on 81 Crescent in the summer re- sort village was officially opened. The branch was first opened at the same location in May of 1979 in a 12 foot by 60 foot modular building with four employees in- cluding manager Jud Bumstead. Bumstead says the full-time staff now consists of eight employees during the slow season and in the busy summer months could rise as high as a dozen. The present building was upsized to 1,800 square feet in 1980 and with the completion of the present addition and renovations is up to 3,000 square feet. The TD Grand Bend branch is open for business from 9!10 to 5 p.m. from . Monday through to Thursday and from 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday. Full service is available through the Green Ma- chine 24 hours a day. When asked how long Bumstead has been at the Grand Bend bank, he replied, " I have been here right from the beginning. This is my life, my baby". During the ribbon cutting cere- mony, Grand Bend mayor Tom Lawson said, " Sometimes we think Grand Bend is at the northern tip of the Lambton iceberg. With an in- vestment like this, we know we are on the move". Lawson continued, " It's people like these at the TD bank having faith in the community that will help lead us out of the recession". Assisting Lawson in the ribbon cutting ceremony were Bumstead and Toronto Dominion's senior vice-president Blair Slade. Slade told the T -A, "Our compa- ny has enjoyed excellent continued support from the community of Grand Bend for 14 years and we will continue to provide the best service we possibly can". r Paint Ceiling Latex Sale Mon. Dec. 29 to Sat. Jan. 2 11 16 c i vwrad Ali 4 litre Semi Gloss Latex The Experts Chou, SJA86ro,,,C,, P er single roll th 4 litre e flat Choice Wallpaper $ 99 From Next to Disney Furniture, 451 Main St. S., Exeter 235.2340 ...................... . (Computers and games excluded Merry Christmas May the coming holiday season bring joy to the world and happiness to your door. We couldn't have asked for nicer customers!