‘ (Poe epee ede ree ee Rinne in wee ee wm eg a Nang oem oa ane kg HE ne HELA AOE! dah aeleantattal ited nied enna dh ecietanminmie ache caneaenantitens do linn Geet Ohominataminem tetanic oteatecanee esata dex setea are eam nacaemieene eae 1 Parents raise fears ee eee about schooi safety NORTH VANCOUVER parents are feeling shaky about the structural safety of some of the local schools their children attend. And one mother has gone as far as pulling her child from a school she thinks would crumble in the event of a major earthquake. Until recently, Dawne Cressman’s eight-year-old son at- tended the Windsor House pro- gram at Queen Mary School. Cressman had enrolled her son in the alternative education program because she wasn’t happy with the education he was receiving in the regular public school system. ‘“Windsor House doesa't allow physical violence and it emphasizes communication skills,’’ Cressman said. But she adds: ‘‘I’ve been concerned about that building since I first went there. The San By MICHAEL BECKER News Reporter said it all for me. I couldn’t live with taking him to that school every day. I feel quite angry that my son can’t get the education he should have because of this build- ing,”’ she said. Her son now at- tends a school in East Vancouver. Queen Mary is one of three North Vancouver schools parents are worried about. Lonsdale School, built in 1911, is con- structed with a stone foundation sy vi definitely think parents should be worried about them. There have been many requests for seismic evaluations of schoois made to the ministry. ”’ North Shore parent Francisco quake made us think a little more.”’ Built of brick, Queen Mary School dates back to 1914. ‘‘Every day I dropped him off, 1 would think about it,’”? she said. An engineer, invited to speak to a group of parents at the school sev- eral weeks ago, failed to assuage her fears. ‘‘We asked would he send his child there and he said no. His impression was that the build- ing was not in great shape. That — Mazgie Pappas and brick walls. The brick-built Ridgeway School dates from 1911 as well. Said Maggie Pappas, a local parent instrumenta! in the push to have North Shore schools imple- ment emergency procedure guidelines: ‘“‘E definitely think parents should be worried about them. There have been many re- quests for seismic evaluations of schools made to the ministry. Now something is coming out of it because parents and educators are looking at it because of San Fran- cisco. These three schools haven't been reinforced since they were buiit.”” Pappas charges that the Ministry of Education has put the issue of evaluating the structural integrity of schools on the back burner until recently. ‘‘It’s been too big an issue to look at and it was put on the bottom of the pile,”’ she said. Tom Austin, head of facilities planning for the Ministry of Education, estimates it would cost approximately $300 million to br- ing public schools in the province up to full standard. But in the meantime, Lonsdale School was one of three B.C. schools recently targeted by the ministry for structural upgrading. The ministry will be allocating ap- proximately $1.5 million next year on a pilot project to upgrade the North Vancouver school, a Van- couver school and a Victoria school. According to Austin, Lonsdale School will receive 100 per cent upgrading to ‘‘achieve full national and B.C. Building Code standards.” Said Austin: ‘‘The reason behind the work is to give us the criteria and engineering guidelines so that we can develop a program we can impiement across the pro- vince.”* According to North Vancouver School District secretary-treasurer Leonard Berg, Lonsdale Schoo! is to date the only school the district has collected any hard seismic data on. Said Berg: ‘‘The province had asked that certain kinds of schools be looked at. Lonsdale was chosen as one of them. We agreed to engage a consultant and the report, which we’re keeping pretty close to our chest, has been forwarded to the ministry.”’ North and West Vancouver Emergency Program coordinator Ross Peterson said concern about the structural safety of schools is understandable. ‘‘But we simply don’t know. We're hoping the province will contribute something towarc the cost of assessing all of the sch. ols,’’ Peterson said. Expert says be prepared for the big earthquake MOST OF us will survive and most of our buildings will remain intact after the big quake, but, according to Krysha Derbyshire, North Shore director of emergency social ser- vices, it’s not going to be a comfortable few days after- wards. To prepare for disaster, North Shore residents should plan to be self-reliant. “‘Have a family emergency plan. Know what to do before hand. Practice drills. Know your respon- sibilities afterwards. Decide who is going to have responsibilities for what. So that after an event at least you know what it is your ’re supposed to be doing,’’ Derbyshire said. ‘If nothing else, make page 37 of your telephone directory re- quired bedtime reading for every member of your household. It is a very good summary of what to do and how to be prepared.”’ Earthquake proofing means tak- ing a few basic, common-sense preventive measures. Walk around the home with a critical eye and look for hazards. Heavy objects high up on shelves should be removed. Anchor bookcases and cabinets back to the walls. Brace the hot water heater, especially if it By MICHAEL BECKER News Reporter is a gas water heater. Said Derbyshire: ‘‘A principal cause of fires after an earthquake is the gas water heater falling over, the gas line breaking and fire ig- niting from the gas. You should know how to turn off your water, your electricity and your gas.’’ But she cautioned, ‘“‘Only turn off your gas if you smell gas. If you turn it off when it’s unneccessary, you'll have to wait a long time for the gas company to come and turn it back on again.” Derbyshire has developed an emergency supply kit for her own family home. The kit, meant to be stored for easy access near a zarage door or in a shed, contains the basics necessary to sustain life outdoors for a day. She suggests augmenting the kit with extra sup- pls of water (replace every couple of inonths) and non-perishable foods stored elsewhere in the home. “These are things that if you have damage to parts of your house, you’ve got some basic stuff in here to at least keep you sheltered overnight away from the house. If you’ve got a few things to keep you going, you don’t have to go to the reception centres right away. [t’s going to be noisy there, crowded,”’ she said. Krysha’s Emergency Kit: a tarp, nails, rope, axe, bottled water, chlorine bleach to purify con- taminated water one drop per litre for clear, two drops per litre for cloudy), easily-prepared foods (soup, canned beans, crackers, dried fruit), pet food, plastic knives and forks, disposable plates, cups, garbage bags, foil. cooking pot, can opener, basic toiletries, medications, diarrhea medication, first aid kit, rubber gloves (for dealing with blood that could be AIDS infected), emergen- cy space blankets, flashlight, radio, candles, matches, fire starter. 3 ~ Suaday, November 12, 1989 - North Shore. News NEWS photo Elke Schroader B.C. AMBULANCE Service North Vancouver Unit Chief Tim Jones shared emergency preparedness tips with North Vancouver residents sat a public meeting held Tuesday at Seymour Heights Elementary School. The audience heard that there were community emergency response plans in place but that residents could better prepare themselves by developing home emergency plans, taking first aid courses and volunteering for the North And West Vancouver Emergency Program. Testing assessed THE RECENT earthquake in San Francisco has focused the need for assessing, testing and upgrading local emergency plan procedures, according to North and West Vancouver Emergency Program coordinator Ross Peterson. Approximately 200 North Van- couver residents attended a public meeting on emergency preparedness held Tuesday at Seymour Heighis Elementary School. Officials gathered to provide a description of plans in place and offered insights on how residents can plan to better protect themselves in the home and throughout the community. Krysha Derbyshire, North Van- couver District planner and North Shore director of emergency social services; Runert Downing, district social planner and emergency social services director responsible for reception centre management; North Vancouver District Fire Chief Archie Steacy; B.C. Am- bulance Service North Vancouver Unit Chief Tim Jones; North Shore Chief Public Health Inspec- tor Bill Kimmett; North Vancouver RCMP Supt. Jack Morton; and Ed Collins, North Vancouver Schoo! District administrative services coordinator participated in the discussion. The meeting was the first of Gary Bannerman........ 9 Classified Ads..........38 Comics... 10s da Fashion 27 Horoscopes Bob Hunter.. Lifestyles . Shorefines ... Travel ..... What's Going On........ “Second ¢ Class Registration Number 3885 By MICHAEL BECKER | News Reporter what will be an ongoing series of public meetings to be held on the North Shore. Said Peterson: ‘‘The most frightening thing about an earth- auake is not knowing what to do. But there is a lot you can do. And the North Shore has a planning committee that developed an emergency plan. A hazardous risk component tells us what damage we can expect. We have response procedures. Education and train- ing is extremely important. We have to know that our plans are effective.”’ The North Shore emergency plan document contains the bylaws necessary to empower the plan. It also outlines mutual! aid, describes emergency procedures and respon- sibilities and lists resources avail- able. Jones outlined a plan to equip schools within the next year with disaster trunks (bulk first-aid kits) on wheels. He also encouraged the public to take first-aid courses. WEATHER Sunday, mostiy cloudy with a chance of shawers. Monday, mostly sunny. Tuesday, mostly cloudy. Highs near &°C. Ne