KIDS FOLLOW THE WATER SAFETY RULES DO YOU? of The Canadian Red Cross Society Learn To Dive BUDDY SALE Just $399°° Complete course for 2 people SAVE OVER $7100 All Equipment included . Just odd bothing suit; woter & a smilel mncesisP!) | eRe VANCOUVER. | ie UTON BLOWOUT!| . } i NEWS photo Mike Wakefiaid Obl. $397 ‘ia P 2K rangers at Lyin. Canyon are playing a role in reducing the death toll ard amount of injuries caused by’ ire daredevil divers and swimmers at the popular North Vancouver park. Be voce aot yt nce Ss ay pi 4 ple covers, Web ucts tact FACTORY FUTOR ' 7 R67 Ist Aa | | a ers | [ j 1) as | | : | ae mene imal , "TAP IDILBE : By Bob Mackin’ ; Contributing Writer 2 SUMMER is‘more than - haif over and there have been no swimming fatal- ities'in Lynn Canyon’s .° North | Shore’: ency and rescue coordinator is editing the Lynn. Canyon ark’ rangers: with preventing deaths in the dangerous” vatering holes, but. ‘a park; get. modestly ‘cites. traftic | niatls:’arid .cool weather. for. thinning’ crowds: carly “in the sumnier. oe “There’s no doubt in ‘my mind: that it’s had -a positive . ffect‘on. public safery. in: the . park,” said “s Jaricouver Emergency Program: “works forth: and West“ with the North Vancouver District Fire Department, which coordinates the often tricky rescues in-rocky Lynn ‘Canyon. The rangers - were established almost. four- years ago as. a preventive measure safter increased fencing and ‘warning signs failed to’ deter divers. Their mission is to dis-- courage daredevils from jump- ° ing from the canyon walls into often treacherous water. ©. The ‘fire department has only “made two ‘calls. ta, the canyon this summer — seven ‘since Jan.'1. Only one yisit was for arescue.” : ‘. “They're a grdat asset to, us ‘down there,” j said North ‘Vancouver ‘District Fire chief Brian Stegavig. “They're not only.” ‘preventing. injuries, they're letting us know about - illegal fires." Peterson said the dearth of calls‘ to Lynn Canyon has allowed the emergency - pro- gram ‘to. focus its efforts else- where, especially on mountain trail rescues of unprepared or lost hikers. : i Kevin Bell, Lynn Canyon’s! chief naturalist and assistant manager, said it’s unlikely that dangerous behavior’ can be eradicated from the canyon, but the rangers are a. positive influence. coe “We're doing very well to curtait deaths. A ‘lot of that is really enforcement of the no- drinking, no-drugs (ruie),” Bell said. oy Warning signs are heeded by some park visitors, but “the personal approach is much more effective,” he said. Three. full-time and three- part-time. rangers patrol the ark; 1] a.m, to 7 p.m, daily, tween May and September. mmer safe so far at once deadly Lynn Canyon creek pools The ‘rangers carry two-way -radios, cellular phones and first aid kits. . Park Ranger Chad Smith. said cloudy weather in May and June | and the Second Narrows Bridge Jane closures for con- struction helped keep the crowds low earlier in the sum- mer. He estimated two-thirds of people requiring emergency medical attention in previous . -years-are not from the North Shore. He has noticed a marked . decline in drug and alcohol con- sumption, though some people - are continuing to take risks. “Thar'll never change,” Smith said. “Sometimes the most beautiful parts of. the canyon are the most dangerous.” Between’ 1980 and 1992, when the: rangers program, bepan, 18 people died in Lynn Canyon. gate rejected OY Lonsdale st 13tn . Part of the Provincial Fioad Safety Prégram:, leside rai page 1 mo rok” ' _On Sept: 1+ last year, nwo people were rushed to hospital after the Royal Hudson m train struck their truck at a crossing ncar Sunset Beach, The vehicle came to rest iV its side 27 metres (90 feet) past the rail rossinge. : . That crossing is controlled by a stop sign. At the time Sunset Marina office man- “ager Sue Rauter said she wanted to see flashing lights installed to warn people of oncoming trains. . -On Thursday, Rauter said nothing has “been done since last September's accident. She said she wants the overgrown bush cut. Currently, she said, drivers have to almost be.at the track before they can'see whether atin is coming. Immediately after the accident, BC Rail trains were “really laying on the horn,” she said, but now they gone’ back to their carli- er tooting patterns. The car driver faced charges of leaving a railway stop sign unsately, On Aug, 19 last year, the Royal Hudson hit a car at a crossing near Ambleside Park in West Vancouver. In that accident, an 80-year-old man received a broken nose and his 80-year-old wife suffered minor cuts. , The driver was charged with failing to stop for flashing, signals. That accident prompred ° West Vancouver District to consider installing a gate across the Ambleside crossing. But that option was rejected by council due to the $100,000 capital outlay for the gate and $600-a-year share of the maintenance bili. Traffic history at the location did nt war- rant a gate, said district assistant director of operations Gordon MacKay. Aylsworth said the municipality is responsible for installing signals and gates if the railway was built before the road was. The railway was built in 1912. In 1987, 73-year-old man was taken to hospital with minor injuries after the car he was driving was hit bya train at 18th Street. Of the district’s 17 crossings, one has a gate. Fram page 1 North Vancouver Recreation Commission director Gary Young, said the district is nego- tiating with ice rinks such as the Cap West Country Club on Fullerton and a Burnaby facility for the ice time. ~The cash would come from a $132,000 chunk set aside in this year’s budget to buy ice time from the unfinished Burrard Band rinks. ° The remainder of the $132,000 budget will be carried forward to next year. rink at Cap West could reduce the league’s ability to obtain the required ice time next’ year. Club owners are looking, at.a residential development on the land. . Tsleil-Waututh chief Leonard George said | nwo cinks will be built at the south side of the Takaya golf driving range by this time next * Morrison added the possible loss of the” ice rinks. ° year. The architectural drawings are finished and fand could be cleared as carly as next, week. George expects the cost of the facility to ‘be in the $6 million to $7 million range. A health club and a sports bar will overlook the ”.BCAA..: APPROVED . * Coupon ¢ other offer. be SS ct a eee me ee font SERVING NORTH VANCOUVER SINCE 1953 - HOMEQWNERS © CONDO» COMMERCIAL «BUSINESS kau WEST VAN. 14718 Clyde Ave. 925-2833 ” Plus we accept VISA/MC at no ext ‘