The Citizen, 2015-02-26, Page 28PAGE 28. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015.
Continued from page 26
blizzards with hurricane-force
winds which devastated the Great
Lakes from November 7 through
November 10, overturning ships on
four of the five Great Lakes,
particularly Lake Huron, killing
more than 250, destroying 19 ships
and stranding 19 others, including
the S.S. Wexford. The ‘witch’ theme
appears in different forms
throughout the piece, in the opening
as an ominous prologue to the
hymn, and more obviously there’s a
subtle transition from the ‘working
song’ to the storm section.”
The St. Anne’s band will formally
debut “Songs of the Karegnondi” at
their spring concert on Friday,
May 8.
Band finds
inspiration in
1913 storm
Continued from page 27
systems that had some problems and
they worked on them. There were,
however, a lot of alarm activities
over the year.”
Firefighters also put their medical
use to training, taking on roles with
which they normally have very little
experience.
“We were part of a baby delivery,”
Sparling said. “That’s not very
common. Huron Emergency
Medical Services and firefighters
also got a field resuscitation.
Someone is out there walking
around because it worked. That’s
not the kind of thing we usually
see.”
Sparling, when asked which
events were the most memorable,
said that while the year was full of
larger events, such as the methane
gas fires in pig barns which were
huge undertakings to put out and
caused significant damage, he was
shocked by two things; the first, a
once-in-a-lifetime gas line rupture
on Thuell Road in Blyth in May of
last year and the second that people
had to be charged for not having
active smoke alarms in their home.
“We completed our door to door
Alarmed for Life campaign,”
Sparling said, referring to a
sponsored event where the
firefighters checked and replaced
smoke alarms in all the houses in
North Huron during an amnesty
period. “We still have people out
there now who are taking the
batteries out of their alarms or
removing them.”
He said one charge had been laid
in North Huron last year, which was
just unfortunate.
The gas line rupture happened
during a spring electrical storm
when lighting struck and ruptured
the line and also ignited the natural
gas in it. The resulting blaze was
biblically reminiscent where the tree
was wreathed in flame but not
burning down.
“That had to be the unlikeliest
event we’ve ever seen,” he said. “We
had firefighters on scene who, in
their years, hadn’t seen anything
like. Two Union Gas engineers were
on site who, between them, had
more than 50 years of experience
and they had never seen that. We
will probably never see anything
like that again.”
Sparling said he hoped his first
year as chief would be a slightly
quieter year but was happy to tackle
the challenges head-on.
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Standing their ground
The Fire Department of North Huron firefighters didn’t get much rest as they responded to
nearly 200 calls over 2014. Included among those calls were ones like the barn above where
the presence of methane caused the fire to be much more intense and dangerous. (File photo)
Medical calls, methane fires mark busy year for FDNH
Natural gas in
Walton expensive
Continued from page 23
between Walton and the nearest
natural gas node in Blyth as being a
major hurdle as it increases the
capital cost of the project
substantially, making the
aforementioned loans and grants of
particular interest to the county.
However, the exact requirements for
the program have yet to be
announced.
Three major Walton companies,
Millstone Crop Services Limited,
Huether Farms Inc. and McGavin
Farm Equipment, are requesting the
pipeline to allow them connect to
gas as are several other property
owners.
After meeting with Union Gas last
year, the county and municipalities
have been told that a $4.3 million
capital contribution will be required
for the project.
The Citizen will continue to follow
this story as it develops.