Mine Rescue considers search
Ontario canada goose outlet canada Mine Rescue stood anxiously on the sidelines during the fatal Elliot Lake mall collapse, but it may prove to be a watershed event in the history and evolution of the 86 year old volunteer canada goose outlet organization.
In the investigative aftermath, cheap canada goose a new relationship has sprung up between the Sudbury based Mine Rescue and Toronto’s Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) Task Force that was deployed to the canada goose uk shop Algo Centre Mall when the rooftop parking lot collapsed in 2012, killing two.
The two organizations have met regularly since the conclusion of Canada Goose Online the Elliot Lake Inquiry’s testimony phase to talk about joint training exercises sometime this year.
“We need to know the nature canada goose outlet store of how we (each) operate,” said Gryska.
“We’re looking at collaboration, working together on sharing information, finding out where our areas of commonality are, and in the event something like that happens in the future, how can we work to help one another out?”
The first phase of the Elliot Lake Canada Goose online Inquiry last year examined the cause of the building’s collapse and the emergency response.
Many Elliot Lake residents canada goose outlet store uk in the former uranium mining town uk canada goose were outraged over the HUSAR team’s handling of the rescue and recovery of the two bodies canada goose black friday sale from the mall’s rubble, and their neglect in calling Mine Rescue professionals from Sudbury, two hours away.
Mine Rescue is a network of 875 highly trained and respected volunteer miners stationed at 40 underground mines across Ontario, including about 200 more at various open pit operations.
Formed in 1928 canada goose outlet nyc after the Hollinger Consolidated Gold Mine fire killed three dozen Timmins miners, the organization boasts a stellar international reputation for safety and high standards of training. No volunteer rescuer has ever been killed and no endangered miner has ever been left below ground.
On average, Mine Rescue operators respond to about three calls a month, mostly underground fires from electrical systems or mobile equipment. The network is coordinated out of Sudbury under the Workplace Safety North umbrella.
During the weekend of canadian goose jacket the mall’s collapse, Gryska was away at camp and arrived at work Monday morning unaware of what had transpired. The office was buzzing; phone calls and emails were pouring in from Vale and Goldcorp, which were ready to render aid.
“Typically we don’t respond to collapsed buildings,” said Gryska, but the pressure was clearly on internally to do something.
Mine Rescue never received a call for aid, so offers were made through the mayor’s office and the Ministry of Labour to send rescue canada goose outlet shop officers experienced in underground collapses.
“Truthfully, I don’t if we could have done something,” he said. “Without having our people there, I really don’t know.”
Later, upon viewing photographs and receiving a technical briefing of the unstable conditions canada goose outlet uk sale inside the mall, Gryska, who trained as a mining engineering canada goose jacket outlet technologist, sympathized with the HUSAR team.
More rescuers on the scene wouldn’t have made a uk canada goose outlet difference, said Gryska, but it wouldn’t have hurt to get the call.
“There wouldn’t have been any harm in being part of that group that does the assessment. But I don’t know what I don’t know.”
During testimony, HUSAR commander Bill Neadles ruled out calling in Mine Rescue, believing they didn’t have the capabilities to work in that environment. He admitted he knew little about them.
The two organizations aren’t totally foreign to one another, having teamed up when a 2011 tornado flattened buildings at the Sifto Salt Mine in Goderich, killing one employee.
Gryska, who testified about canada goose outlet online his organization’s capabilities, was invited to Ottawa to participate in Commissioner Paul Belanger’s roundtable discussions to get input from design, building, engineering and emergency professionals for his upcoming report.
Mine Rescue and its official canada goose outlet member companies have https://www.mild-und-leise.de historically made offers to send rescuers and equipment to disasters spots, from the 1985 Mexico City earthquake to the 2011 Japanese tsunami.
“We’ve always canada goose outlet sale been there to help out any way that we can,” said Gryska.
“One thing that happens with mining companies is that they’ve got big hearts. They care about their people, the mining community, and they regard Elliot Lake as a mining community.”
Volunteers pride themselves on fast response times, usually being on the scene within 30 minutes of a reported mine incident.
Should there be a massive disaster where local first responders are overwhelmed, these trained personnel, stationed at mines across Ontario, bring with them a toolbox of thermal imaging buy canada goose jacket cheap devices, inflatable air bags, canada goose coats drills, rock splitters, plus heavy equipment from the mines.
“Potentially, if something happens, we’re there and available,” said Gryska.
Though structured to be a self sustaining organization, Mine Rescue will inevitably change through partnerships, he said.