Ladysmith Crew Helps Battle Marina Blaze

Compass ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE CANADIAN COAST GUARD AUXILIARy – PACIFIC FEBRUARY 2011 LADYSMITH CREW HELPS BATTLE MARINA BLAZE A CCGA-P Station 29 Ladysmith crew played an Rescue and firefighters from other nearby departments integral role in the containment of a massive fire at a attacked the blaze from the west, Aux 29 began attack- popular Ladysmith marina which led to major property ing the fire from the north flank, which was inaccessible damage and the loss of a life. On January 6, Aux 29 was to the land-based firefighters. tasked just after midnight to assist local fire services At 12:40 a.m., while battling the fire and providing with a multi-vessel, multi-structure fire at the Ladysmith illumination for the land-based firefighters, the crew Maritime Society (LMS) Community Marina. Coxswain pulled a sailing vessel away from exposure to the flames Rob Hoban and crewmembers Andre Dentoom, Nick and anchored it east of the marina. Mindful of the Epp-Evans and Steve Triebner arrived on scene approx- possible danger from exploding propane tanks and gas imately 30 minutes later and found multiple boathouses tanks, they then resumed their attack on the fire from a fully engulfed in flames with moored boats at neigh- safe distance from the northeast, using their dewatering bouring docks threatened by fire. While Ladysmith Fire pump to control the main fire and to prevent it from ► CCGA-P IN ACTION ► VESSEL UPDATE ► WHAT’S NEW Rescue roundups Nanaimo’s rollover test Simulator courses schedule ► NEW FACES ► LESSONS LEARNED ► A FINAL WORD Coast Guard changes A training mishap Message from Jim Lee Volunteers saving lives on the water RESCUE spreading to the open docks and 12 moored vessels endangered by the flames. At 1:10 a.m., Ladysmith Fire Rescue requested more resources and the Coast Guard’s Cape Kuper was tasked from Salt Spring Island. Fire crews and Aux 29 continued to fight the blaze; they received assistance at 2:40 a.m. with the arrival of the Cape Kuper, which provided lighting for the scene and additional fire support. By 3:45 a.m. the fire was finally extinguished. Aux 29’s crew then spoke with marina representatives about their pollution control booms and assisted in the deployment of the booms, helping to capture some of the spilled oil and pollutants on the water that resulted from the fire. Once this was completed the crew moved a nearby anchored vessel to secure moorage alongside the marina’s visitor dock. By 5:18 a.m. the crew finally returned to base. While the fire was successfully contained, a 49-year- old man died after collapsing during his escape from the fire. Five boat sheds and two boats were also destroyed in the blaze while many others were damaged. Damage is likely to top $1 million, according to fire department officials. While CCGA-P crews are often seen as focusing solely on marine search and rescue, incidents such as this one highlight the wide variety of tasks undertaken by our members. Aux 29 provided fire containment, loss prevention of nearby vessels and structures, area illumination and pollution control assistance as well as communication relay between on-scene command and JRCC. While the Ladysmith crew is to be congratulated on their exceptional efforts during this incident, they are quick to recognize the work of everyone involved. Says crewmember Nick Epp-Evans, “Though we are sad- dened by the loss of life and property, we tip our hats to Ladysmith Fire Rescue, the neighbouring fire departments, BC Ambulance, local RCMP and the maritime society volunteers for the hard work controlling the aggressive fire.” With reporting from and photos by crewmember Nick Epp- Evans RESCUE Photo: John A Ramm Photo: John CCGA-P in action Man overboard A crew from the CCGA-P’s Kitimat station recently by JRCC to join the active search at the man overboard took part in a marathon 12.5-hour search after a man datum. The crew immediately headed to this location, overboard was reported from a nearby fish processing where the search was currently being conducted by two ship. skiffs from the fishing vessel and theDiscovery Scout, an On January 11, just after 5:00 p.m. JRCC received a owner/operator from Hartley Bay. call from Prince Rupert Coast Guard radio, which was a At 9:00 p.m., JRCC advised the crew to gather infor- Mayday relay from the 120-metre fishing vesselNorthern mation from both the Northern Victor and the Discov- Victor, reporting a man overboard. CCGA-P Station 63 ery Scout, so crewmembers boarded the fishing vessel Kitimat was tasked to respond, along with a number of and spoke with the master, who provided all available Coast Guard vessels and a Canadian Forces Cormorant pertinent information, including the fact that their helicopter. crewmembers had deployed a life ring with a strobe im- Station 63’s crew, including coxswain Duncan Peacock mediately after the man overboard occurred. The crew and crewmembers Aron Clement, Mike Ledevehat, then spoke with the Discovery Scout, who gave them the Christopher Peacock and Stirling Sohm departed base location of the life ring, and then left the search be- and transited the 42 nautical miles to the vessel’s loca- cause of low fuel. tion near Kingcome Point, a difficult two-hour journey. The Kitimat crew continued their search of the area, Once on-scene the crew was tasked to do a barrier focusing on the information gained from the master search at Kingcome Point, which they continued for ap- and the Discovery Scout. At 10:45 p.m. they located the proximately one hour. At 8:30 p.m., they were advised ring and strobe and began to search the surrounding 3 RESCUE waters. At 11:00 p.m. the Coast Guard vessel Point Henry Dinghy near-disaster arrived on-scene and also began to search the waters near the ring’s location. Because of strong winds and On December 3, CCGA-P Station 20 Salish Sea was an air temperature of -10 °C (Kitimat’s vessel, Snowflake tasked to investigate a report of a vessel striking the Responder II, is not a cabin vessel), crews were advised breakwater at the Port Browning marina. to board the Point Henry to warm up and to continue to At approximately 8:40 p.m., coxswain Dave Harg- assist in the search. reaves and crewmembers Frank Horvat, Herb Katz, Mi- By 12:30 a.m. the crew was advised to return to chael Symons and Elizabeth Wilkes departed base, and Kitimat, and were offered an escort by the Point Henry were guided to the incident scene by on-shore member because of the weather conditions and because they Roger Pilkington. Once on-scene the crew observed a were now a considerable distance from base. The crew grey dinghy capsized and tied to the dock. After inter- determined that an escort was not required and arrived viewing an on-scene RCMP officer and a bystander, back in Kitimat at 4:40 a.m after four difficult hours. they determined that the owner of the vessel had been Sadly the fishing vessel’s crewmember was not recov- recovered by a friend from an adjacent boat, and that ered, despite an extensive multi-agency search effort, the dinghy had been recovered with fuel intact. and as of January 13 rescue efforts were officially called At 9:00 p.m., MCTS was contacted and given a de- off. All of those involved in the search are to be com- scription of the vessel, the status of the vessel’s opera- mended for their perseverance in a difficult situation. tor and a visual report on possible pollution (none was Incidents such as this one are a reminder of how cru- evident). The scene was determined to be secure, and cial all resources are in the north’s remote waterways. the crew was able to return to base. A Station 20 Salish Sea crewmember examines the capsized dinghy 4 NEW FACES A changing of the (Coast) guard Coast Guard Pacific Region has recently announced two major new appointments – Captain Susan Pickrell as the Supervisor Marine Search and Rescue at JRCC Victoria and David Heap as the Superintendent Marine Search and Rescue. The CCGA-P welcomes them both and looks forward to continuing our strong working relationship. Susan Pickrell Susan Pickrell received a Bachelor of Nautical Sciences from the University of Cape Breton and has a Master, Near Coastal Canadian Certificate of Competency. Susan graduated from the four-year navigation pro- gram at the CCG College in 1990. From 1990 to 1994 she served as third officer to the chief officer on the CCG ships George R. Pearkes, Martha L. Black and the Sir James Douglas. From 1994 to 1996 Susan worked as the first officer on board the Point Henry in Prince Rupert. In 1996 she was employed as the commanding officer of the cutter Kitimat II which was used as a SAR vessel in northern BC, specifically operating the vessel during the herring roe opening. Later in 1996 Susan began work at the Sea Island Hovercraft Base. In 2002 she was promoted to the rank of captain. During her tenure as captain at Sea Island she responded to numerous high profile and complex SAR incidents including the fishing vesselCap Rouge II, fishing vesselPacific Charmer, sailing vessel Bene- dicte, Seair floatplane and the sailing vesselIncisor . Susan remained at Sea Island until 2010 when she assumed the position of Supervisor Marine Search and Rescue at the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria.

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