NEWS photo Mike Wakefield

WEST Vancouver Fire Chief retired Monday after 23
, years in the West Van Fire Department and nearly 40
‘years fighting fires on two sides of the Atlantic.

Car flies into store

~ A 16-year-old West
» Vancouver resident was
' involved in an apparent
drag race on Marine
_- Drive in North
Vancouver that ended
‘in a single-car crash on
Sunday.

‘According to the North

- Vancouver RCMP, two cars

=. driven by young people began
a race in Vancouver after 9
:. pan. The speeding cars went
over the Lions Gate Bridge
and into North Vancouver.
Police say the driver of a

lace cnodel Volkswagen Golf
GT! lost control of the car,
ercssed over the centre line,
into oncoming traffic and hit a
pole on the sidewalk near the
1800-block of Marine Drive.
The car spun around, became
airborne and then crashed
into the window of a Sport
Mart store.

“There were people at the
bus stop nearby. Luckily they
escaped without being hurt.
We could have had several
people killed,” said North
Vancouver RCMP Const.
Tom Seaman.

The GTI driver was taken

fan Noble

News Reporter
ian@nsnewscom

A firefighting career
that began in the indus-
trial city of Manchester,
U.K,, is winding down
in the quiet suburb of
Wes: Vancouver.

On Monday, John

Rowlands, 59, walked out of

the West Vancouver Fire
Department after four years as
fire chief. Rowlands is stil! an
employee until February, but
banked time and holidays will
carry him through to the day
he turns 60.

“It’s had a lot of ups and
downs,” he said of his career.
“I guess the way things are
going at the moment, things
are getting a litde tighter with
the provincial cutbacks so it is
getting a little ... more diffi-
cult to get things you want.”

Rowlands started with the
Manchester Fire Brigade in
1958 and stayed there 17
years. Then, after his wife had
come to Vancouver to visit her
sister, things changed.

“She came back. She said
“Thar’s it, we're getting out of
this dirty industrial city and
we're bringing the kids over to
this nice place here.”

Rowlands said he didn't
have a job in B.C., but was for-
tunate enough to get on with

to Lions Gate Hospital where
he received stitches to his face.
He returned to the crash
scene and vas “more thaa
cooperative” with investigat-
ing police officers.

Police say it was fortunate
the driver was not seriously
injured. He is facing a charge
of dangerous driving.

The GTI is 2 write-off.

The store’s damage bill is
in the thousands of dollars.

The other car involved in
the race did not stop. Police
would like information about
the other car.

— Anna Marie D’Angelo

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the West Vancouver Fire
Department three months
after arriving in 1975.

He said the fire department
has scen a lot of changes in 23
years. There are fewer fires
now and more non-fire calls
such as rope and cliff rescues
and more medical calls.

“We've been quite success-
ful in diversifying here. We've
really become quite profes-
sional and quite adapted to

FACTORY FUTON

Entrance in fear tane

Hon. Sat. TI-Epm Sunday le-S pm

Wednesday, November 12, 1997 — North Shore News — 5

chief retiring

dealing with all these other
things. We're quite highly
trained in them now,” he said.

Rowlands wants to spend
more time with his three
grandchildren. “I have no
plans. My wife has sure got
plenty of plans for travelling
and j » around the house, of
course,” he laughed.

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