FOREST FIRE CREWS took a long walk off a short helicopter last week, Initial attack fire crews from Terrace and Kitimal were al the Terrace-Kitimat airport to undergo training in how to safely com- plete hover landings. These kinds of landings are necessary when crews have to be dropped in dense brush to extinguish blazes. Crews leammed how to crawl out of a helicopter without upsetting the helicop- ters delicate balance and how to drop safe- ly from up to eight feet above ground. All crew members require retraining every other year, Fire crews have not seen a lot of local ac- tion so far this season. The initial attack crews are on readiness alert at. Terrace, Burns Lake, . Smithers, Nass Camp, Dease Lake and Watson Lake and the northwest fire centre, located in Smithers, is fully operational, However, the region from Smithers to the , Gardening | Sale at Terrace an CO-OP Garden Centre © a FOREST FIREFIGHTERS ' were at tthe Terrace. Kitimat airport last week undergo- ing training in the safe way to exit from hovering helicopters, The technique is necessary when crews are taken to fires in dense bush. Crews are taught how to jump from a helicopter hovering up to eight feet from the ground. Firefighters learning how to jump safely Queen Charlotte Islands had only seen 29 fires as of late last week. Mest of those were small and easily managable. Fire officials warn, however, that there is a possibility of danger ratings rising, partic- ularly if the weather patterns bring on a long, dry spell. And while the regional forest fire scene may be calm, fire crews and fire bosses have been rotating in and out of northem Alberta where large blazes are consuming - many hectares of forest and have threatened’ towns. In the meantime, campers and others going into the forests are asked to be espe- cially careful of campfires and to make sure they are extinguished before leaving a campsite. Those spolting a fire should call the forest service at 1-800-663-5555, This number is manned seven days a week, 24 hours a day during the forest fire season. , The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 3, 1998 - A3 News In Brief Mighty Moe’s quest MIGHTY MOB’S vision for a pullout at the Cranberry Junction on Hwy37 North leading into the Nass Valley continues to draw intercst, Although Moe’s idea was tumed down by the high- ways ministry which said its budget is limited lo fixing’ roads this year, he received a more sympathetic hearing from the Kitimat-Stikine regional district. “The regional district would be very reluctant to sup- port commercial development at Cranberry but feels that some improvements to the pull-out at Cranberry would be desirable given the large recreational vehicles wavelling Hwy37,”’ regional district official Andrew Webber wrote in a letter to the highways ministry. Webber also wondered about ihe feasibility of putting interpretative signs at the junction to give information to tourists but not mislead them as to the logging road nature of the road heading west. A former resort owner on Hwy37 North leading to the Yukon border, Moc now lives in Terrace and has been trying to convince local officials to develop an RY park in the downtown core. Watch those big banks A PROVINCIAL cabinet minister is worried that pro- posed mergers of banks will result in job losses and in- flated prices. Sinall business minister lan Waddell said a report he had commissioned indicates small businesses are par- ticularly concerned. ‘““Phey need money to grow and many fear this con- centration of the financial market will further distance them from access to capital,’’ he said. Waddell’s the provincial government person given the job of looking at employment, affects on bank charges, availibility of loans to small and medium size businesses and impacts on small communities that could arise from bank mergers. Waddell will continue his work in the area as pro- posed mergers of the country’s large chartered banks wind their way through a federal regulatory process. Rupert talking skate park PRINCE RUPERT City council wants to make use of the legwork done on a skatcboard park here in planning a similar facility on the coast. “T just think it’s a shame to reinvent the wheel,” councillor Paul Kennedy said al a recent Prince Rupert city council meeting. Council recommended Prince Rupert ride Terrace skateboard organizers’ coattails as much as possible in planning a park, according to a story in the Prince Rupert Daily News. Mayor Jack Mussallem obtained some information from a Terrace representative during the Yellowhead Highway Association conference. Mussallem said those involved in the Terrace park had travelled to some three dozen other skateboard parks in looking at designs. City slaff were said to be in contact with Terrace to exchange information, June 4,5, & 6, 1998 2 All Trees, \\ Shrubs & Plants ’ Terrace CO-OP 4617 Greig Ave. Terrace Ph: 635-6347