arene meters eet smpsinge ST crete NA TOON PREETI Nt RT ES Fogle Pia EEN, + s YOUR COMMUNITY | SINCE 1969 ram u: September 28, 1986 News 985-2131 Classi EF RS fied 986-6222 Distribution 986-1337 52 payes 2S¢ +, 4] WI AN EX IP | YOU COULD be a lucky winner in the North Shore News’ Win Your Way Across the Pacific contest. Winners will have the choice of picking an exciling, adventure-filed trip to Hang Kong or New Zealand. All you have to do Js fill out an entry form at one of the 119 businesses participating in the News con- test. No purchuses necessary, Details in Coday's paper on pages 18 and 19. One attendant acknowledges AN ATTENDANT at North Vancouver’s Pay-N-Save gas Branch spokesman Jim Quee said station, which was destroyed in Thursday’s propane fire, said she has pumped propane gas at the station without having the government-required certification course. Leah Hickey, 18, said she began pumping propane for customers a few days after being hired without receiving any formal training. “T didn’t do it on my Sirst day at work, because I was too chicken,” she said. Hickey, who took the certifica- tion course two weeks after star- ling, said she’s been waiting nearly two months to hear officially whether she passed the written ex- amination. Hickey sid the attendant who operated the propane tank on the day of the blast was certified and- had worked at the station for one year. She said the other person on du- ty the day of the fire refused to work with propane, because “he’s afraid to.” By KIM PEMBERTON News Reporter “There’s only two people on a shift,’’ she said. “They want you to learn it as quickly as possible because that’s (Pay-N-Save at 449 East) Third Street) a real busy station.*' Lorne Mountain, a Mohawk eraployee trainer, said the com- pany’s certification program in- volves an extensive one-day course. “It's a must in order to serve (propane) that you have been through this course,"’ he said. Mohawk Oil was the propane supplier of the Pay-N-Save station involved. The station itself is own- ed by Petro-Canada. B.C. Government's Gas Safety in this case it’s the responsibility of all three parties — Mohawk, Pay-N-Save management and Petro-Canada —- to ensure atten- dants are properly trained. When asked whether an atien- dant could service propane fuelled vehicles without the certification course, Quee answered no. “They would have to wait until they have a certificate, but it does bring up an economic problem. To put a kid through a course who may only last a month and then be on his way is costly. Instead, there has iv c* a trained person on shift if anything goes wrong.’ Quec said anyone in violation of the regulations governing propane, in effect since Oct. 1982, would be called to a hearing to face a possi- ble penalty. He said while penalties involving untrained attendants have been given out, they are not common. Quee said as far as he was aware. |Coast guard does spill drill A MOCK oil spill in Burrard Harbor kept oil company officials and the Canadian Coast Guard busy on Wednesday. Above, two vessels surround the ‘‘spitl,’’ off the shores of Ambleside Beach. Burrard Clean, a West Vancouver-based company, including Petro Canada, Shell, Texaco, Chevron and Trans Mountain Pipeline, organized the exercise to gauge how well industry and government work together in marine disasters of this kind. Right, Andy Hofbauer, of Shell, Ron Bolton, of Fsso, and Norm Ashby, of Shell, discuss their next move from the mobile command centre at Ambleside. Sce page 3 for story. no punitive action has ever been taken against Pay-N-Save's North Vancouver station regarding regu- lation violations. He said gov- ernment inspectors visit the station at least once a year to ensure safety standards are being met. Quee said he doesn’t believe a propane tank in a residential area is a serious danger. ‘*When you look at the statistics, propane is going to come out the better fuel over regular gas, as far as safety goes,’’ he said. N. VAN PROPANE Quee said a BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Evaporation Vapor Explo- sion), which fire officials said could cause an explosion that would reach 1,500 feet, was not possible in this recent propane ex- plosion. “A BLEVE nas nothing to do with a stationary installation Under those conditions it wasn’t a con- cern,’ he said. But Chief Barker said, while he doesn’t like to disagree with another official, he believes a BLEVE was possible in Thursday’s explosion. North Vancouver City Fire Chief Larry Barker said Thursday the accident, which resulted in a three-hour evacuation of nearby residents, occurred after an atten- dant misiakenly hooked a gas pump to a van. Barker said when the driver IRE AFTERMATH...SEE PHOTO PAGE 2 drove away, he pulled the pump right out of the filling station, after a safety cable failed to secure it. **We don't think it was (the at- tendant’s) fault,'’ Barker said Fri- day. “It was an unfortunate chain of events. The major problen was the faulty safety cable.’