Coughing fit contributed to fatal accident

Timmins Police Service says no charges are warranted in the accident that killed a ten year old Timmins girl and sent another child to hospital on October 29.
In a statement released by Timmins Police it appears "an extreme coughing seizure resulted in the driver passing out" for a few brief moments.
“All of the evidence collected and interviews conducted appear to corroborate the information provided by the driver of the vehicle that struck Amelie Guertin and passengers inside the vehicle,” the police statement said.
“All evidence collected from the scene, driver, witnesses and vehicle’s data recorder support this conclusion and police can find no other reason why the accident happened.”
Amelie Guertin died from injuries she received in October as she and another girl walked home from school on Power Avenue. As the two girls were walking, a pickup truck came up from behind and hit the two girls before it crashed into the schoolyard fence where it came to a stop.
The other child in the accident was hurt, but she survived her injuries.

Dog Rescued - Fire on Westmount

A small dog was rescued after a garage fire occurred on Westmount Boulevard today. The garage was destroyed. There was heavy smoke damage and minor fire damage to the adjacent house. No one was home, but neighbors told firefighters there was a dog in the house. The little pooch was found on the smoky main floor and brought outside, Firefighters placed the animal in a warm van until the owners arrived.

Construction accident

A Timmins construction worker was rushed to Timmins and District Hospital this morning after an incident at a construction site on the retail property next to the Home Depot store on Highway 101 West. Timmins firefighters responded to the incident after being told a man was pinned beneath a boom truck. The incident is being investigated by Timmins Police and Ontario Ministry of Labour. Cy Rheault Construction Ltd. of Timmins claimed to be the contractor on the site.

Fire on Waterloo

There was a four-alarm fire just after one oclock this afternoon at the old Canadian Tire store building on Waterloo Road. The building was in the process of being renovated for new businesses. As yet, no information is available on the cause of the fire but the initial call said fire was "in the walls". Firefighters responded quickly and used axes and power saws to break into the walls and roof of the building.

Investigation into mining fatality continues

The investigation continues into the death of a miner at the newest mining operation in the city, the Liberty Mines Redstone nickel mine in Eldorado Township.
According to information from Ontario Provincial Police and the Ministry of Labour, 46 year old Calvin “Cal” Parkinson died sometime shortly after eight oclock Saturday morning. He was working near the 1300 foot level of the mine.
According to police and the Ministry of Labour, a large piece of heavy equipment was involved in the accident. Ontario Ministry of Labour spokesperson Bruce Skeaf says it appears the victim may have been hit by a six-yard scooptram. A scooptram is normally used for ore haulage and dumping, and also to remove muck from freshly blasted drifts.
Skeaf says the scene of the accident has been roped off until a ministry investigator can examine the scene thoroughly. All information and evidence gathered will be presented at a coroner’s inquest, to be held at a later date. Under the Coroner’s Act in Ontario, an inquest must be held whenever a miner is killed on the job.
Parkinson lived in Timmins. He is survived by his wife and four sons. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Miron Wilson funeral home in Timmins.
This is the third mining death in the Timmins area this year. In July 25-year old Lyle Dufoe died at Xstrata’s Kidd Mine when the scooptram he was on went over the edge of a deep stope that was being backfilled. In October, 38-year old Dennis Cloutier died from injuries after he was hit by a piece of falling rock, in a raise, at the Porcupine Gold Mine’s Hoyle Pond mine.
As yet, no information has been released on when inquests will be held into either of those deaths. It is not unusual for inquests to occur up to a year after a death has occurred in the workplace.

Trapper warns of coyote problem in Timmins

A well-known and respected local trapper says Timmins area residents need to be mindful of the “coyote problem” in the city.
Bill Russell says the latest incident, where a dog was attacked Friday night, “is typical” as winter is setting in and the animals are getting hungry and desperate.
“It’s not a new problem,” says trapper Russell, “a bunch of them took down an elk this past summer.” Russell says he was called out to a local resort park after coyotes killed a pregnant elk.
The Friday night incident occurred outside a home on Sandy Falls road as the owner Duane Shannon was putting up Christmas lights with the help of his son Nikolas. Their dog Riley, a golden retriever, was romping in the snow nearby.
Suddenly nearby in the darkness, the dog yelped.
“My husband knew right away something was wrong,” said Cindy Shannon.
“He hollered at the dog and went right over,”she said.
“He was all full of saliva, like he was all wet,” said Duane.
“We brought him in the house, and he was walking really bad,” Duane explained
“I seen a drop a blood and then another drop of blood,” he said, adding that it was difficult to find out exactly where the blood was coming from.
“We couldn’t see anything because the hair is so thick eh.” Duane said the bleeding just wouldn’t stop
“So we brought him out to the vet and she shaved him real good and that’s when we saw all the punctures,” he said.
The dog had been grabbed by the throat.
Russell says it’s a classic attack method by a coyote. He says the coyotes live and die by their ability to hunt and kill. Russell says domestic dogs are easy prey for wild coyotes.
“Don’t think that because you have a big dog, it can stand up to coyote,” said Russell “They hunt and kill to live.”
The Shannons admitted they were not surprised since they had seen coyotes lurking in the fields near their home, which sits on a large tract on flat land.
After returning home from the veterinarian clinic, the Shannons called the Ministry of Natural Resources and were told the MNR is not responsible for animal control. The ministry referred them to Russell who is licensed to live-trap nuisance animals.
Russell’s advice for residents living near the bush is “not to let your animals wander alone.”
He says many residents have complained of dogs and cats being lost, or even “kidnapped” in recent months. Russell says he believes animals are more likely the victims of the coyotes who are preying on an easy source of food.

Baby Amber case to be re-opened

Of the ten new cases uncovered at the Inquiry into Pediatic Forensic Pathology involving discredited Dr. Charles Smith, one case involves the death of a Timmins child and wrongful manslaughter charges against a 12-year-old Timmins girl.
The inquiry is looking into the faulty findings and questionable testimony of Dr. Smith who was previously head of the Ontario Pediatric Forensics Unit at the Hospital for Sick Children.
In several cases, Smith wrongly concluded that young children had died of injuries or negligent behavior by others. In some cases criminal charges followed.
In the case of Baby Amber-Lynn S------, of Timmins, she was 16 months-old when her parents left her in the care of a 12-year-old babysitter one day in July of 1988.
The toddler suffered a fall that day, down five stairs. Paramedics were called. They found the baby breathing irregularly, but with no visible injuries.
Two days later, on July 30, 1988, Baby Amber was pronounced brain dead at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
The cause of death was listed as “cerebral edema, due to head injury after an accidental fall.” An autopsy was requested due to a suspicion of the possibility of foul play.
As the result of the autopsy, Dr. Smith told police it was highly unlikely a fall killed Baby Amber. Smith said he believed the death was caused by severely shaking the baby.
The 12-year old babysitter, known as SM, was charged in December of 1988 with manslaughter. She maintained her innocence.
By the time the charge when to trial in 1991, the judge ruled he was not convinced the death of the baby was due to shaking.
The babysitter was acquitted.

Cash & Dash

Timmins Police Service says it has a suspect in custody following a break-in and attempted robbery at the Xtra Cash business at Algonquin Boulevard and Highway 655 Sunday.
Police say the alarm was activated around 8:30 Sunday morning, but when police arrived no one was inside the building.
According to policed, entry was gained through the roof of the building and its believed that when the alarm sounded, the suspect dashed out the back door.
As the result of an investigating the Ontario Provincial Police, police say 35 year old Robert Weaver was taken into custody charged with breaking and entering. Officer at left photographs evidence on the roof of the building.

Santa Parade

Thousands of Timmins children, and their friends and parents, lined the downtown streets Saturday night for the annual Timmins Santa Claus Parade. The event lasted more than an hour and the weather was perfect. Cold enough for a hot chocolate but warm enough to stand outside for 90 minutes. Sixteen year old Pascal Allarie, the new Miss Teen Ontario North, was among the participants.

Black Box being investigated

Timmins Police Service is working to get court authorization to examine the “black box” device located on the late model Chevrolet pick up involved in a fatal crash on Power Avenue Monday.
The truck somehow drove off the roadway, onto the sidewalk, and into two schoolgirls who were walking home after school, and then into the schoolyard fence (see photo).
One child, 10-year-old Amelie Guertin, was killed.
The black box device, or Event Data Recorder (EDR) is located on many late model vehicles. It provides information on vehicle speed, engine speed, braking status, driver’s seat belt status and the times on airbag deployment.
Timmins traffic sergeant Randall Trebilcock says a court order is required to access the EDR and download the information.
Police are not releasing the name of the driver of the vehicle at this time. Trebilcock says the investigation continues.

Crash update

Timmins Police, working with an accident reconstruction expert from the Ontario Provincial Police, say the investigation continues to determine exactly what happened for a few crucial seconds Monday afternoon when a pickup truck on Power Avenue drove up onto the north sidewalk and crashed into two children walking home from school.
Ten-year-old Amelie Guertin of Timmins died from her injuries. She was pronounced dead at Timmins and District Hospital shortly after being brought there. Her nine-year-old companion received head and facial injuries and she too was admitted to hospital. Both girls were students at the nearby Ecole Anicet Morin.
Timmins Police Traffic Sergeant Randall Trebilcock says the 43-year-old driver of the pickup truck was also brought to hospital. According to police he sustained minor injuries.
The truck has been brought to the Timmins police building. That’s where the vehicle will be closely examined to see if there was any mechanical breakdown that may have contributed to the accident.

Crash kills schoolgirl

One child is dead and another is in hospital after a vehicle collided with a couple of schoolchildren near Ecole Anicet Morin in Timmins this afternoon. Timmins Police traffic sergeant Randall Trebilcock confirmed this evening that one child died as the result of the crash on Power Avenue. Witnesses at the scene saw a pickup truck straddling the sidewalk on the north side of the road where it crashed into the schoolyard fence. No further details are available. Timmins Police Service says the investigation continues.

Emergency follow up

An official incident report has been filed with Transport Canada outlining what happened with an the emergency involving an Air Creebec Dash 8 aircraft Tuesday morning, that had just taken off from Timmins headed for the airstrip at the Victor Mine, near Attawapiskat. The report to Transport Canada is as follows:
“The Air Creebec Inc. de Havilland DHC-8 aircraft (operating as CRQ441) was on an IFR flight from Timmins Airport (CYTS) to Victor Mine. The flight crew declared an emergency due to a landing gear problem and requested a return to Timmins Airport at 1120Zulu (07:20 a.m.) Timmins emergency services were notified. The aircraft held until the emergency services arrived and then commenced an approach. The aircraft landed without further incident at 1145Zulu (07:45 a.m.)”
An updated report indicated “after inspecting the aircraft, maintenance staff found that the hydraulic line to the landing gear selector valve failed at the flare.” This initiated a warning light in the cockpit. That prompted the flight crew to request emergency services and return to Timmins.
The update also indicates that inspection of maintenance records for the plane indicated “no maintenance action was completed in this area to indicate that maintenance error was a contributing factor.”The inspection also showed this was the first ever failure on this hydraulic line.

Airport emergency landing

An emergency was declared at the Victor M. Power Airport in Timmins Tuesday when it was reported an Air Creebec Dash 8 was unable to confirm the landing gear was operational.
The pilot radioed in to the Timmins Flight Services Station requesting emergency services be called out.
The Timmins Fire Department and Timmins Ambulance Services responded to the call, which was made at roughly 7:15 Tuesday morning.
Timmins firefighters were told by the 911 dispatcher that the aircraft had “28 passengers, 4000 pounds of fuel and seven ounces of radioactive material on board.”
When contacted by The Timmins Times, Yvan Perreault, Assistant Manager for the airport said “there was no such substance being transported. Not to my knowledge.”
Mike Pintar, Chief of the Timmins Fire Department confirmed that the fire call included the warning that radioactive material was on board the Dash 8.
“The page from the 911 dispatcher to the fire department did make mention of the radioactive material, but we go out there to make sure the plane lands safely, which it did,” he said.
The passenger plane circled overhead for roughly 20 minutes before making a safe landing on runway 03-21.
Passengers were transferred to another aircraft to safely complete the flight to the DeBeers Victor Mine camp near Attawapiskat, according to Perreault.

Restaurant inspections to be public

The Porcupine Health Unit (PHU) has changed its policy and will soon be opening its public health inspection results to the public.
The PHU board of health has decided that serious infractions of public health matters resulting from food inspections will be posted on the PHU website. This will take into account inspections at all restaurants and other establishments where fresh food is prepared and served.
The policy goes into effect on January 1, 2008.
The motion, approved by the board of health on Friday, noted both “the public has shown an increased interest in becoming informed when it comes to food premises inspection,” and that many other health units in the province are now disclosing their enforcement activities.
The health unit is headquartered in Timmins and serves the entire Cochrane District and as well as Hornepayne, in Algoma District. The health unit has branch offices in Cochrane, Hearst, Hornepayne, Iroquois Falls, Kapuskasing, Matheson, Moosonee and Smooth Rock Falls.
Earlier this year, Ontario’s privacy commissioner Ann Cavoukian commented there was no reason for health units not to make public health restaurant-inspection records public.

Explosion on Jubilee

Emergency services responded to a an explosion call on Jubilee Avenue today, shortly after 10:00 a.m.. Several residents in that immediate area reported hearing a loud bang. When firefighters arrived, they discovered a heavily damaged recreational trailer in the back yard of a Jubilee residential property. One side of the trailer appeared to have been blown outwards. Paramedics provided first aid for a man at the scene, who appeared to have injuries to his hands. The incident is under investigation.

Spill on the river

A containment boom was floated on the Mattagami River in Timmins today after reports that some sort of oil contaminant was spilled in the river. It happened in the early afternoon. The boom was placed where construction work is going on at the Timmins Water Filtration plant. As yet, there is no word from the city on the nature of the spill or whether it presents any sort of hazard to the public.

Mine Emergency - Fatal accident

Emergency workers rushed out to the Hoyle Pond Mine in Timmins today to respond to a call for a person in distress underground. Reports indicate two miners were working together in a raise when one was hit by loose. Among those responding were Ontario Mine Rescue, Timmins Police, ambulance and firefighters. Paramedics provided medical assistance once the injured person was brought to surface. The ambulance left the mine property at 11:41 a.m. to take the victim to Timmins and District Hospital. No further details have been released.

UPDATE: The Ontario Ministry of Labour confirms that the miner brought to hospital has died of his injuries.

Correction note

In Friday’s paper, The Times incorrectly stated Gilles Bisson was first elected in 1987.
In fact, Bisson was first elected as MPP in 1990.

Street racing suspect loses vehicle for seven days

A Timmins man has lost the use of his vehicle, and all his driving priviliges, for a week, allegedly for racing.
Ontario Provincial Police impounded the vehicle Thursday in what is believed to be the first local enforcement of the tough new law introduced on October 1. Police say a South Porcupine OPP officer had occasion to observe and stop the driver of a Pontiac G5 for allegedly committing the offence of street racing in Timmins.
The alleged offence, that meets the newly enacted and expanded definition of street racing, occurred at approximately 1:00 p.m. Thursday in Mountjoy Twp. The driver was stopped by the OPP officer who has charged the driver with Race A Motor Vehicle contrary to the Highway Traffic Act. The driver’s vehicle has been impounded for a period of seven days. Additionally, the charged person’s drivers licence has been suspended for a period of seven days in the province of Ontario.
Eric Fillion, 22, of Timmins has been issued a Provincial Offence Act Summons requiring him to attend court in Timmins on December 6th, 2007.