When not busy

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‘NEWS photo Ellsworth Dickson

cars as Wonder Woman, KELLY rollerskates and runs a
successful North Shore business.

rosswalk turned down

A PLEA to provide a safe
pedestnan crossing at 17th
Street and Esquimalt
Avenue fell on deaf cars at
West Vancouvers council
last week

In a fetter to council L
Lewis urged consideration of
the crosswalk because many
motorists speeding downhill
refuse to stop
pedestnans

for

Staff felt a crosswalk was
not justified and Mayor
Dernck Humphreys — said
“The safety of crossing a
road depends very much on

\

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ANY OCCASION

Call 988-4362

AS - Wednesday, April 13, 1983 - North Shore News

ini-pumper ‘worked

out extremely well’

A REPORT by North Vancouver District fire
chief Bob Walker commending the value of the
department's mini-pumper, written three weeks
before council canned the mini-pumper and its
nine-man crew, has now been released.

In his annual report for
1982, Walker says: “Our
mini-pumper project went
on-stream this year and is
working out extremely well.”

The report was written
February 21, at which time
the issue of the mini-pumper
had developed into a raging
controversy in which the
firefighters’ union raised its
attempts to save the program
into a highly visible and
emotonal campaign to the

embarrassment of the
council.
Walker confirms in the

report what the firefighters
were saying about the value
of the program.

“Thirty per cent of our
total responses were handled
by this unit, resulting in less
wear and tear on our larger
units, reduction of time on
some calls and the saving of
committed time by station
pumps for larger
emergencies.”

The report points out that
the unit served not only as a
mini-pump but as a pumper,

service unit and _ relief
pumper.
“But more important,”

continues Walker, “it is the
necessary means of getting
additional firefighters to
occurrences and rescue and
inhalator responses, which
accounted for 802 calls in

Sayeed

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Reig

4 oa. BtO

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“

PAL Marve brie

West Varn cnivenr

By CHRIS LLOYD

1982.”
Contacted by the News,
Walker explained that

although the report was not
released until the mini-
pumper program had
already been discontinued
by council, he had presented
exactly the same information
to council members before
the decision was made.

His presentation made no
difference because council
members had already made
up their minds, he said.
“They were going to cut it
anyway.”

Questioned further about
his statements in his annual
report concerning the value
of the mini-pumper
program, Walker  respon-
ded: “That comment was
made for 1982, not for 1983.
This is a dead issue now.”

Though Walker was
anxious to remain non-

committal, it is clear he had

i

no control over thé “decision
as to whether the mini-
pumper should be canned.
“Councils control the
dollar bills, you know, and
the quantity of services but
not necessarily the quality of
service. Fire chiefs don't

control the purse strings but
they do control the service.”

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As for controlling the
rescue and safety service
previously offered by the
mini-pumper, Walker said
this is being accomplished by
the purchase of $30,000-
worth of additional
equipment, including two
Jaws of Life extrication
tools, for installation on
pumper trucks to be located
at different firehalis in the
District.

He expects the cost to be
matched by the price he
anticipates receiving from
the sale of the mini-pumper,
so that the actual savings
from the axing of the mini-
pumper program would be
the salaries of the nine fire

personnel who lost their
jobs.

Walker's report shows
there have been im-

provements in the number of
emergency calls and arson
incidents in District during
the past year. .

“Alarm responses were
down considerably this year
to the lowest figure since
1978, and we are pleased to
report no fire deaths,” he
says.

The year saw 1,812
emergency responses for the
department - a drop of 314
calis, amounting to a 15 per
cent decline.

Suspected arson = and
juvenile vandalism showed a
dramatic decline, from 48
per cent of the total fire
losses in 1981 to just 13 per
cent in 1982.

1 O22
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