Auss Babcock, a B.C. Tel techniclan from Smithers,
recently spent a faw days perched on the CN railway tres-
tle over the Skeena Alver while repairing cable damaged
by a fire under the bridge. “It's tadious work,” sald Bab-
cock, “but the view's nice.”

Linemen work
overtime to fix
burnt cables

TERRACE — An ex-
traordinary effort by
B.C. Tel workers kept
telephone service going
to Thornhill and sur-
rounding areas during a
recent weekend. A freak
fire that began in a
massive stack of drift-
wood on a gravel bar in
the Skeena River burned
more than 60 meters of

overhanging cable, dam- —

aging the telephone lines
to Thornhill, the
Terrace-Kitimat Airport,
Lakelse Lake and the
Kleanza subdivision.
The fire was reported
at about 8 p.m. Sept. 13
and required several
hours of intensive effort
by both Terrace and
Thornhill firefighters to
extinguish. The ten-
meter flames from the
blaze scorched ties on the
CN Kitimat spur line
trestle and melted insula-
tion on the adjacent B.C.
Tel cables. Rob Cumis-
key, customer service
manager for B.C. Tel’s
Terrace district, stated
afterward that complete
service was restored 12
hours after the fire
started, ‘‘It took a huge
effort by a total of 22
people to get this done,”’
he said. “People were
called in off holidays
from as far away as
Smithers. In the end, we
got less than a dozen
complaints about lack of
service.’’ Cumiskey said
that working conditions
were difficult and dan-
gerous, It was a cald
evening with high winds

blowing up the Skeena,
and the repairmen were
working in the dark on
ladders leaning against
damaged cable. An add-
ed element of drama oc-
curred when the fire in

the twisted wrack of
driftwood. below the
workers flared up again
after the firefighters had
left. ,
Several days after the
fire Russ Babcock, a
lineman called in from
Smithers, was still work-
ing on the lines, crouch-
ed on an improvised
wood platform and pa-
tiently sorting out sets of
lines to be repaired. The
split cable housing re-
vealed hundreds of
bundled wires finer than
spaghetti. ‘“‘This is an
older type of cable,’ he
pointed out. ‘The in-
sulation is paper. It
seems to have better heat
resistance than the rub-
ber, but it has to be soak-
ed in boiling paraffin
before it can be handled.
Otherwise you get breaks
in the insulation.” Al-
though the service has
been temporarily re-
stored, Babcock said
that ordering and
replacement of the heat-
damaged cable is a job
that will require several
weeks, The cables over
the Skeena River contain
a total of 2350 pairs of
telephone wires.
Cumiskey said it is
presently too early to
assess the exact cost of

the damage, but he esti-
continued on page 24,

| Terrace Review — Wednesday, September 24, 1986 3

We've got Christmas
all wrapped up.

But hurry! You must

book between Terrace to:

September 25 and Christmas Discount

October 9. enum Fare
Vancouver $129.00

_ Pacific Western is taking
the wraps off Christmas. And
that means an early present
for you.

If you’re planning to travel
between December 1 and
-January 10, book your seat
~ now and enjoy some festive
savings to many of our
favourite destinations.

Uriwrap your early Christmas
‘Present today.

For reservations or information on
discount fares to other destinations cal!
your travel agent or Pacific Western at
638-0221.

® Transportation tax not included ® Fares
are limited and subject to availabllity and
government approval © Tickets are
completely non-refundable « Minimum
2-day stay * Tickets must be paid for
within 7 days of booking * Travel must
commence and be completed between
December 1 and January 10.

Pacific Western

DFA 153