Fiv

TERRACE — A 46- -year-old
Thornhill woman ig the lone. sur-
vivor of an early morning house
fire last Wednesday that killed
most of ner family.

Jcanelte Burkett was pushed out
of a second-storcy window by her
husband, 49-year-old Lawrence ;
Burkett.

“Obviously he went back to get
the others and didn’t make it
out,’ said ~RCMP.- “‘S.Sgt- John
Veldiman.

No one else escaped from the
blazing log house, focated at 3786
Valleyview. Ave.

Despite .a hip injury she
reccived when she hit the ground,
Jcanette crawled out to a neigh-
baur’s house for help.

Dead are: Larry Burkett, their
ihree sons —- 22-year-old Russell
Burkett, 21-year-old Michael

Gitksan
look at
casino

By RUTH COOPER
HAZELTON — Gamblers may
no longer have to make the pil-
grimage to Rene or Las Vegas to
pay homage to Lady Luck — the
Hazeltons could soon be the site
of the Casino of the North.

Several Gitksan native leaders
attended workshops about casinos
in Vancouver last month. Among
them was Jack Scbastian, chief
councillor for the Hagwilget
band. ;

“It’s just at the talking stage
now,’’ Sebastian’ said. ‘‘But
we're" looking at. getting them
(casinos) set up early in the new
year.’

Onc idea, he said, is to have 4
.-dtiobile--casino.that~could -move ~
from reserve to Teserve, town to

lown, wherever the most t people “

lurn out

“What | plan to do is hold a
couple of workshops with all the ~
organizers in the area, and if sup-
port looks good, we'll do it
Otherwise one of my committees
will do it.” -

A recent provincial court deci-
sion that came.down against a
special aboriginal right to gamble
will be appealed, . Sebastian
added.

The Vancouver workshop ad-
dressed cancerns about the asso-
ciation between gambling and
crime.

Sebastian, however, said exist-
ing casinos on réserves.in the,
United States and elsewhere in =.
Canada don’t seem ito have a
problem.

The profit. gencrated by the:
casinos would be used to benefit!
the community and social welfare’
of the local people. E

“The main reason I’m starting:
this is because it brings in big’
money,’? Sebastian pointed ou
up. to $500 million ‘profit a
year,”! \

Local fundraising efforts are
pushed ‘to the limit of what: local“.
people can contribute,.- she... said, -
and the casino 0 could Dring i in oul
side money. :

Sebastian said the money would
go towards: “everything, *.

“Education: is ‘cutback by 38
per cent. (The money) would help °
education... Social. assistance -is
cut. Everything ts oit22.-!

Sebastian has started negotia-
tions with ‘‘a couple of outfits in
the States’’, which he declined to
naine, and expects representatives
from there to visit the Hazelton
arca either this month or early in
February.’ : .

+ Moving house

_ FEATU

A

Burkes, and 14-year-old Gregory
Burkett — and 16-year-old Dar-

lene Poissant.
"’Poissant, Michael's girlfriend
front. Wainwright, Alta, was

holidays.
The.five bodies were recovered

Thursday but had not been posi- |

lively identified at press time. |
Assistant Thornhill. fire chief

Guy..Belanger. said... firefighters-

never had a chance of saving any-
ane else.

Firefighters responded ‘to the

call at. 6:43 am. and arrived

minutes later to: find. the house .

completely engulfed in flames.
“Tt was: just too far, gone,”
Belanger said. -““There’s just ab-

solutely no Way we: could -have
‘jeopardized any firefighter by

sending him’ daside that build-

-anything about. it. ~

<battled the freezing weather as

ing.”

Just minutes after firefighters
arrived, the roof fell in. After
that, be said, all they could do

“was put water on it to try to cool
staying with the Family for the |

it down and protect neighbouring
homes,

“You're trained” ‘to help
people,”’ he said. ‘It’s a helpless
feeling. —-. knowing you. have
people inside and: you can’t do

The more than 20 fi refi ighters
much as the fire. The temperature

fell to -18 degrees that night and
high winds buffeted the fire all

day.

“Everything was freezing Up so

_ we just did what we could with
‘what we had,” Belanger said. -
~That’s all you: can do in this
kind of weather.”

being conducted,

They used four pumper-lanker
trucks, a rescue van and a mini-
pumiper. It was miore than six
hours -before the fire was ex-
linguished, One ‘firefighter was

_ treated: for smoke inbalation’ and
- released.

Old: Lakelse Lake Drive was

‘blocked for more than eight hours

while the fire was fought.”

Fire. Commissioner Ken: Dalil,
~ of Prine George, °

ing the blaze-and an autopsy fs

The cause of the fire has not yet
been determined, but, Veldman
said foul play is not suspected, ,

The family were avid bowlers.
Diane. Francis ai’ the Terrace
bowling alley is conducting a col-
lection this week to belp Jeanette
Burkett,

‘comes in.

“Adair,

"ani integral ‘part « of his courses.:

7 said Adair. ;
- Various | levels ‘of CPR

Although: commonly associated wilh adults who
have ‘heart attacks or other medical emergencies,
CPR cari be just as vilal with children, says Fred

For Adair, an industrial first aid and safety'i in-
_-$tructor at Northwest. Community College, CPRi is

~ “Te is not just-for adults,” says Adair. “Tthas —
“greats use.in the general population.”? - ,
"Infants: and young : children ‘can. * suffer ‘from
strangulation when. curtain cords. get wrapped
“around ‘their necks, have air passages blocked. off
by wearing plastic bags and fall viclim to electri-
‘eal shock by sticking: fingers in sockets.
“AIL of these will stop. breathing, and if you
‘ stop breathing long enough, it'll stop the heart, "

instruction .
"Proper procedures for infants and young children.

LIFE-LIKE and potentially life saving is the baby doll used to teach CPA courses at the
aquatic centre. The child-size version serves to remind that kids get involved in the kind of ac-.
cidents where a knowledge of CPR can make the difference between a bad scare and a trage-
dy. Above, that’s Jaan Moldenhauer, a water safety instructor and lifeguard at the city pool.

This lifesaver for kids too

aL. TERRACE ~- They are alarming statistics.
Choking is the number one cause of death in in-
fais under (he age of one and drowning ranks in
ihe top three causes for children from 1-14 years.
The common denominator i in both choking and
drowning ¢ deaths is a stopping of the heart. That’s
where’ cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR)

The compression

depth should be.
“"When. you say

. He’s careful to
CPR and artificial

. edge as passible.

ail thal equipment
said,

plays and courses

include:

stance, is taught by the number of inches the

not mean a lot. But one and a half inches or two
inches deep does,”’ said Adair.

there is still breathing and the former. is. when
there is no breathing.

There used to be a big emphasis on specialized
_CPR instruction. and that perhaps kept.a lot of
people from learning more. The emphasis now, -
‘said Adair, is to spread as much general knowl- .

“If it takes 10.0

mone | nobody does anything, you" Te. dead. Ir you

don’t have a heart beat and you're. not breathing, |

you're dead. People can al least try,’ he added.
Adair and others will be setting up. mall dis-

ary. More information on CPR is availble from ;
the city’s aquatic centre.

It’s the lead agezicy offering CPR here because
of ils lifesaving water safety use.

depth portion of CPR, for in-
50 pounds pressure, that may

make the distinction between .
respiration. The latter is when

r 15 minutes for an ambulance,
it has isn't worth anything,” hie.

during Heart Mouth in Febru-

. singte: “faniily

KITSAULT

takes on.

a new meaning as miners’
homes come south, °

RE + AS

ET RRO TSR oh SSAA Sag es nt Nt pr NE TPR R NNT RE

die in Thornhill blaz

GUTTED: A log hotise bumtt to the ground Dec, 28

on Valleyview Ave.,| in Thornhill,

TERRACE -- Permits director
Bob Lafleur says the city’s build-
ing boom will slacken in 1993,
but not by much.

And, based on his past predic-
tion, who’s going to argue with
him?

In February last year Lafleur
forecast the total value of -build-

$24 million -- the cily’s best ever
previous lad been $15 million in
1990, i

Lafleur has now — released
preliminary year-end figures
which show the total value. of
construction here. “Jast year just.
lapped his mark. al $24.16 ‘mil-
lian.
AL$13 million, housing activity .
accounted for more Iban half the.
total with the building of- 82

unils in either. du-plexes or four-
plexes,

The commercial sector also had
a strong year with more than $5
million in new construction or
renovation, new —— industrial
develadded another. $3 million
plus and more than $2 million of
work was carried out in the in-
stitulional sector.

While conceding predictions
were really just ‘‘guesstimaics”,
Laficur said be felt ‘‘reasonably
safe” in forecasting construction
would top.$20 million this year.

Another boom
year forecast

ing permits for 1992 would hit

“aivaniniie™ ind 30k

in a tragic fire

That assumed continued
strength in the single family
housing market which was, in
turn, dependent on interest rates
stay ing low.

However, Lafleur pointed oul,
he knew of al least 15 cases
where homes originally planned -
for construction in 1992 had to ‘be
put on hold because the property
owners could not find a builder.

And given the speed with which
“spec” homes -- built by” dével-

_ opers in hopes of finding a buyer

-- had sold: last’ year, he
anticipated more would appear on
the market in '93, ;
He’ therefore expected . ‘single
. family housing starts in the 50-75
range this year. :
_ Although that would be. down
rom 192... Lafleur said the short-
Iwi

covered by: new multi-family de-

velopments, *

-He explained . ‘plans were ale
‘ready in the works for an apart-
ment block on vacant iand at the -
Scott-Sparks intersection and an-
olher developer was considering
construction of apartments at the —
cast end of the downtown core.

Tolal units from those ‘two
projects could top 100, he added.

And, Lafleur pointed out, none
of the figures he was predicting
took into account the Orenda ‘pro-

ject.

SOUP kitchen —
joins homeless

TERRACE — The local soup
kitchen joined the ranks of the
homeless it served last weck,

~ The kitchen closed down after a
year and a half in operation be-
cause Lutheran Church - officials
decided to stop renting the church
to the Terrace: Anti-Poverly
Group Society. - ;

About 50. people tumed up for
the final meal-at the soup kitchen
— a last supper of turkey dinner
on New Year’s Eve,

“They didn’t really ‘give us a

reason Why,”’ socicty spokesman _

Gerry King said of the decision.
He: said. the~ church - originally

-look in the soup kitchen because -

it served children, With many of

them now being ‘served by a.

school lunch. prograni,: he. noted

the ‘kitchen-“now serves’ mainly
-adults and that may be one reason”

for the change...
Another could be some people

“were ‘apparently -seen drinking -

outside the church, However, he

ON STRIKE

> .

Monica

Peacock

cuts loose at the local
alley to. Post a per

sonal best.

"SPORTS + B4

pointed out, “We've got no con-
trol of that - — they’ re drinking all
over town.’

Two whurch board members
were contacted ‘but refused to
comment on the decision.

King said the Anti-Poverty
Society is now looking for a new
hall to house the soup kitchen.

If community volunteers are
successful jn their efforts to find a-
building for a hostel for the
homeless, he suggested it- might
also serve a8 a soup. kitchen: dur-
ing the day.

“I’m grateful that we. did get it
established,’? - King: added.
"People Know there .. - is*.
need.,.and hopefully that'll: make
it casicr to find a new, place.””

Now ‘thal the ‘scheol ‘lurch. pro-
gram is in place, the soup kitchen
is serving about 40 or 50 people a
day, and most of them are adults,

More than 800. children were
served at ihe kitchen in October,
but that fel} 10 275 in November.

ould probably be'tore tah”