Want to trya ‘Sentryphone for free? B.C. Tel has offered a free trial of one. of their com- puterised Sentryphones to those North Shore residents who would like to par- ticipate in the test program. But there is a catch, as North Vancouver District Council was told Monday. B.C. Tel will, in fact, install the Sentryphone system to residents’ honies or business premises without charge. But the cost of in- Stalling the necessary sensors and detectors in those premises will have to be borne by their owners. The Sentryphone, ex- plained Gerry Swan of B.C. Tel to council, is a device that acts as an alarm system, a monitoring system and “... a computer that could make the phone line an instant lifeline in most emergen- cies.” It will, it is claimed, report fire, burglary or medical emergencies automatically, by alerting the appropriate agency and providing such details as the occupants name, address and the nature of the.alarm. Residents or businesses in both North and West Vancouver will be offered a portion of some 200 free trial Sentryphones to try out for several months to test the merits of the system. B.C. Tel wants to try the service in the field before offering the device to the general public in 1981. The test will focus on the North Shore because this area offers a good cross- section of residence and business customers, but a few Vancouver customers will also be included in the test period. A fully operational Sentryphone display is in- stalled for demonstration at the Capilano Mall Phone Mart. ¢ CARVED SOLID 9:30-5:00 Mon.-Fri. 9:30-4:30 Sat. MAHOGANY DOORS ° 3 tt "CLOSET BIFOLOS 16° ¢ 6ft. CLOSET BIFOLDS 32°. ¢ PASSAGE LOCK SETS ¢ DEAD BOLT LOCKS ° PANELLED ENTRANCE DOORS (scratched & dented) FROM PAGE A1 But Deputy City Fire Chief Ralph Meldrum said: “We should be informed of these things before it becomes a problem. We'd sooner fight a small accident before the goddam thing is out of control, in there to come out through the safety valve under its Own pressure. “It is placarded hazardous because it is hazardous. These things are placarded for a reason. If they come off the rail, potentially you don't know what the hell might happen.” And CN’s Menard conceded: “In retrospect, I can see the fire chief's concern. It was a mistake and hopefully it will . be rectified in the future.” He said CN staff were meeting last week to decide what action should be taken in such instances. MOCKERY But a_ spokesman for Seymour residents con- cerned about the possible dangers of chemical in- dustries on North ‘Van's waterfront, Sheila Gordon, of the Chemical Hazard Alert Committee, thinks the situation makes a mockery of assurances by emergency personnel that all even- tualities are completely in hand. ' “Tf it (any of the oh cars) | had flipped over there's enough weight of the liquid-~ “So much for this won- derful emergency plan we are all to feel calm about. So much for the com- munication between the industry and the fire department,” she says. “We're back to square one. “These pious statements that everything is under control are quite obviously not going to hold water.” Ethylene dichloride has a considerably lower hazard rating than chlorine, which bas been the chemical of most concern to those worried about a spill on the North Shore. xEven so, it is toxic by inhallation, skin contact or oral intake and can seriously damage eyes. It is also inflamable and may travel considerable distances to a source of ignition. The derailment occurred because of a switching error while the. cars were being made up into a train in the Lynn Creek Yard for the chemicals to be taken to the Dow Chemical storage facility at Lynnterm. And both CN and the fire department are agreed that there is no reason why a derailment such as this could not occur with cars of deadly chlorine freighted from the nearby Hooker Chemical plant. City fire chief Dick Hallaway says of the possibilities: “There is absolutely no reason why it could not have been chlorine - or dynamite, or propane, or caustic soda. It's all going Elevator for school A tender by International . Construction Co. Ltd., of $111,397.00 for the in- stallation of an elevator at Handsworth secondary school, was approved by North Vancouver School Board Tuesday. board noted that electrical The some items Walker Door Ltd. ONE WEEK ONLY! March 29th to April 5th DOORS ¢ WINDOWS e DOUBLE GLAZED 49° 1 geo * INTERIOR PREHUNG ARE STILL ONLY DOORS-B.C.’s LOWEST PRICES! ALL TYPES IN STOCK Walker Door Ltd. VANCOUVER 266-1101 1366 S.W. Marine Drive NORTH gg°° PATIO DOORS 224 e DOUBLE GLAZED WINDOWS 3x2 ft. SLIDER (WHITE) 58°° 3°° 4x3 ft. SLIDER (WHITE) 68°° gro 5x3 ft. SLIDER (WHITE) 78° HUGE STOCK ALL SIZES SINGLE AND DOUBLE GLAZED ¢ SOLID CORE PREHUNG ARE STILL ONLY VANCOUVER 985-9714 1589 GARDEN AVENUE 9:00-5:00 Mon.-Sat. connected with the in- stallation had increased in cost by 13 per cent in January of this year and that, while the two tenders received were competitive, the accepted tender was considerably more than had been estimated when the project was first planned. 5990 through here and I don't know what the hell you can do about it. Deputy fire chief Meldrum says five or six carloads of chlorine are regularly shunted back and forth in the same yard within the course of a day:” North Van District Fire Chief Bob McDonald has also stated that his greatest concern of a chemical spill is during the course of rail shipment. This is one of a number of -recent derailments in the same area and is the third photographed by the News in about a month. JOKES City Fire Chief Hallaway says of the attitude to derailments in the CN yard: “The average employee jokes about this sort of thing but doesn’t realise that if anything happens there is a bloody great area we have to clear down there. I think it’s just a case of familiarity. But there should be no way this sort of accident can happen. They should be more careful, especially when they are handling dangerous cargo like that.” And he warns: “We've been fortunate so far. We haven't had an emergency yet. But one of these day’s Yl be talking to you about that - because it’s going to happen.” Because of the location of the derailment - just a few feet within the City boun- dary where it meets the District, the City Fire to reach: A13-Sunday News, March 30, 1980 (N admits it made ‘mistake’ Department also called its District counterparts. A fire pumper from each fire department was set up either side of the derailed cars, with hoses and foam at the ready, for several hours until the cars were lifted back onto the tracks. COUNCIL DEMANDS Coincidentally, rail safety had been discussed by District council just a few hours before the derailment, when council agreed to press government authorities for a drastic upgrading of rail safety standards. Council agreed to act upon a motion containing several demands concerning the rail transport of hazardous chemicals, which had been’ submitted by Alderman Peter Powell and agreed in principle some weeks ago. Powell wants the District to petition all appropriate authorities immediately to prepare and _ present legislation requiring raising to an internationally ac- ceptable standard the readbed of ali railroad trackage om mainiine, switching yards and spars which may handle such materials. He has complained bit- terly in previous debates that Canadian roadbeds are far below the requirements of those located in Europe and Japan and claims this is a major cause of frequent derailments which often cause severe problems Editorial Department Accounting Department Credit Department Publisher’s Office to reach: Display Advertising only \ Main Office Display Advertising Classified Advertising . .. Circulation Dept. 985-2131 980-0511 . 986-6222 Lee eee 986-1337 -whereby throughout North America. He also wants the ap- propriate senior govern- ments to impose upon railways and road _tran- sportation systems man- datory standards of safety in relation to speed and maintenance of equipment pending the upgrading to standard of trackage. Powell further insists that all containers used for the transportation of explosive or toxic materials to be clearly and visibly marked. And he looks towards the institution of a system transportation companies inform the fire departments of municipalities through which these potentially dangerous materials will move at least six hours prior to such movement — on a daily, continuing basis. Péwell also demands that his views be presented to the Union of B.C. Municipalities for support, and that the provincial fire com- missioner, the RCMP, the provincial emergency program co-ordinator and the regional emergency program organization in the Lower Mainland be in- formed of the District ac- tions in this matter. NEWS classified 4 OSB6-G222 sunday news north shore news 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver