A8 Terrace Review — Wednesday, February 6, 1991 anita be tive. ay : ar Roe yea, A mm snes Vibes & fet. ‘Miracle’ an argument for 911 service» ‘by Tod Strachan The fact that a household fire didn’t end in tragedy last Friday morning is nothing short of “mira- culous", says Thombhill fire chief Art Hoving. When Thornhill firefighters arrived at a Penner St. residence shortly after 10:30 a.m. Friday, smoke filled a second floor apart- ment while the mother and. her . two-year-old daughter — slept, unaware there was a fire at all. Mother and daughter are fine, but that’s not the miracle Hoving refers too. The fact that firefighters were able to respond at all was a matter of pure luck. _Earlier that morning another occupant of the sulte, a five-year- old boy, was alone in the living room playing with a cigarette lighter. He managed to ignite some bedding stored in a garbage bag. Although he didn’t wake his mother up, he didn’t panic either. He dialled "0" and asked for the _ fire department. . Terrace ‘firefighter Bill Warcup ~ answered that call at 10:25 a.m. and ran into an immediate prob-. lem. The boy didn't: know his phone number or address, only that there was a fire. The operator, though, apparently suspecting this might be a problem, had remained on the line and this was the "miracle" referred to by Hoving. Normally a B.C. Telephone oper- _ ator disconnects as soon as the -caller begins describing the nature of the emergency to the fire de- partment. In this instance, how- ever, the operator interrupted War- cup’s efforts to determine the boy’s location. The call was being traced, she said, in order to get the caller’s address. Hoving says that when fire- fighters arrived the boy was out- side his home — a second-story rental unit above a storage shed in the rear of a residential lot — and smoke from the smouldering bed- = ding filled the apartment. The boy was asked by fire- fighters to find his mother, and he obediently began to enter his smoke-filled home. "You can’t go in there," Hoving told the boy. "But my mommy’s in there,” was his response. This was the first indication there was anyone inside _ the residence. Fortunately, says = Hoving, mother and child were sleeping close to the floor acd the smoke hadn’t yet reached that level; fighter’s calls to get out of the building. Also fortunate, adds Hoving, is the fact that the bedding hadn’t actually ignited. The second floor bedroom had no window and the only door would have been blocked by flames. ‘Still, the fact that the boy didn’t know his phone number or address is a perfect example of why we need an enhanced 911 emergency system here, says Hoving. In this case, the operator was able to determine the boy's address, but there was still a delay of at least four minutes before firefighters could respond. With an enhanced 911 system, the dispatcher would have had the caller’s name, address and phone number listed on @ computer screen, and the response would have been imme- diate. Whether an enhanced 911 emer- gency system would have helped save six-year-old Joey Parsons, the boy who drowned in a Terrace North pond last year, may never be determined. But this most recent incident is the type of situ- ation the coroner’s jury called to inquire into the Parsons case had in mind last Sept. 24 when they recommended that a 911 system be established in greater Terrace. In mid-October, the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George went to referendum, the proposal in _ question being a $2.4 million enhanced 911 system serving they responded to fitCe George referendum passed by a 92 90,000 people in a 52,000 square mile area at an annual operating ‘cost of between $1.5 to $1.75 million per year. Fraser-Fort George administrator David Wilson estimated the service would only cost individual home owners about, $15 to $16 per year for debt retire- ment and operational .cosis. percent affirmative vote. In Cran- brook, which had lobbied their local regional district for a 911 service and failed, the proposal went to a municipal referendum. Even though a smaller service area meant a significant increase in the cost to the individual home owner, that referendum also passed: In January Don Kerr, the B.C. Tel customer service representative On Nov. 21, the Fraser-Fort emergency service. for Terrace, said the company’s ‘focal computer tallied 420 occa- sions between Oct. 21 and Nov. 20 last year on which subscribers in this region had dialed 911 for help. All those callers got, of coursz, was a recording saying there is no 911 service in this region, and advice to dial the appropriate The B.C. Tel region centred on Terrace covers an area from the Queen Charlottes to Houston and Kemano to Stewart. A rough esti- mate of the population in this region is around 70,000 people, and comparing this to the Fraser- Fort George annual home owner cost, it would be reasonable to suggest an annual cost here of about $18 to $20 per home owner. To become a reality, though, it would ‘require- the cooperation of about two-and-a-half regiotial district boards. - There is presently some. move- ment in that direction and it may not be so much a question of "if" but of "when". According to Ter- Tace .mayor Jack Talstra, city administration has been talking to B.C. Tel and has been offered a Ze “free” feasibility study. With this = encouragement, the city has written the Regional District of Kitimat- Stikine asking for a cooperative approach ‘to the implementation of a 911 system. The letter of request should be on this month’s regional district agenda, with the board scheduled - to meet Feb. 16. In the mean time, one Terrace family avoided tra- gedy last week through good for- tune. We can only hope that another potentially tragic incident doesn’t occur before a system is established that doesn’t rely on good fortune for survival. Foster Care a real difference In their lives. Terrace — 638-3527 Kitimat — 632-6134 Cassiar — 778-7227 You can make a difference. ‘The Ministry of Social Services and Housing is looking for Foster Parents who can care for adolescents with varying ‘degrees of behavioural problems. These boys and girls usually come from neglectful and abusive family backgrounds and require foster parents that have strong skills Im working with adolescents, lots of . patience, a good sense of humour and the ability. to tove without expecting much In return. These kids can be alot of fun at times as well as frustrating, but the main thing is that as a foster parent you can make For more information on fostering teens, please contact your local office of the Ministry of Social Services and a Housing. KINSMEN CLUB OF TERRACE Valentine’ 's Day Raffle ' | Tickets - only $2 each! available from any Kinsmen member, - the Skeena Mali and Terrace Shopping Centre lottery booths, But hurry! Only 2,000 tickets are being sold and they're going fast ‘Hair Styling courtesy of Hairbusters ‘Continental Brunch served Sunday moming ‘Accommodation for two at Mount Laylon Hotsprings Resort ~ Winning prize package Includes; ‘Corsage and boutonniere | ‘Transportation by chauffeur-driven | limousine courtesy of Terrace Totem Ford (Prizes must be taken February 16, ore -Tanpoiaon nt Trac ae er ~ at Mount Layton Hotsprings Resort r resh flowers and champagne ee ee faery by Flowers a la Carte ‘Candlelight Dinner In sulte ‘Babysitting (in the Terrace area)