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CITIZEN
Serving the Central Interior since 1916

PRINCE GEORGE

MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2005

80 CENTS (HOME DELIVERED: 57 CENTS A DAY)

Police investigate suspicious fire in Salmon Valley
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff A possible homicide caused RCMP and fire crews to descend on Salmon Valley late Sunday night. The first call was to the Salmon Valley Volunteer Fire Department, who responded to an alert that a vehicle was on fire on, or in the vicinity, of McLeod Road, just north of the Salmon Valley Bridge (about 28 kilometres north of the city). According to a source who wished to remain anonymous, the SVVFD determined that police involvement was necessary and notified RCMP. It was, in firefighters' judgement, a potential murder scene. It is not disclosed whether one or more bodies was in the burning vehicle. Highway 97 North was closed at the bridge to traffic in both directions from about 9 p.m. until well into the night, causing traffic delays and some detouring. Several officers as well as the RCMP dog squad attended the incident. Police would not comment, as of press time, on the nature of the investigation but the source did indicate a license number was discernable on the vehicle and police were in the process of tracing it to see if it matched the vehicle on fire. Members of the SVVFD were finished their role by about 10 p.m. but were not released from the scene by RCMP until well after that and could not be reached for comment by press time. Should the incident prove to be homicide, it would be the city's third of the year. It would also be the second time in as many years the small community of Salmon Valley has been the site of an alleged murder. Janos Benedek is accused of shooting Robin Fitzgerald to death on Beale Road in May of last year.

CP photo

Firefighters work to control a fire at the historic Lakeview Hotel in Williams Lake on Sunday. No one has been confirmed dead, but four people are missing from the hotel.

Williams Lake hotel burns
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff A Williams Lake landmark is no more. The 85-year-old Lakeview Hotel, located on South Mackenzie Avenue, burned down on Saturday night. It is one of the older buildings in the Cariboo city, and it was home to several live-in guests. The fire's cause is still unknown. Alarms sounded at about 4:45 a.m. on Sunday morning. When fire crews arrived, the building was fully engulfed in flames. "Several hotel residents were standing out front and others could still be seen inside their rooms in the hotel," said Staff Sgt. Grant Martin of the Williams Lake RCMP. "One female occupant of the hotel jumped from a third floor window." The woman's name has not been disclosed. She landed on the pavement and suffered significant injuries to both legs, although she is expected to make a full recovery. An acquaintance of the woman's who spoke with her at the hospital said it was the mental image of her children that gave her the courage to make the approximately 20-foot leap to the street below. Hers are the most serious injuries so far known, although four people on the guest registry are still unaccounted for. They are not considered missing or presumed victims of the blaze, although RCMP and the coroner are focused on the fire scene for bodies until the possibility of fatalities is ruled out. "Of the 17 residents of the hotel, 13 have been spoken to," said Martin on Sunday. "(We) are asking that anyone who was staying at the hotel who managed to get out to please contact (us so) we can properly account for everyone." Witnesses can also help police and fire officials determine more accurately what caused the blaze. Investigators are not expected to get access to the building's remains until sometime today. Hot spots were still being doused as of Sunday afternoon. The building was a concrete structure with wooden floors and other highly combustible interior materials. The Lakeview was home to many low-income Williams Lake residents and, at the time of the fire, was not known to have any tourist guests, said RCMP. Fire crews were able to control the heat so that no neighbouring buildings were damaged. Fifty firefighters took part in the effort. Three ambulances transported about a dozen hotel residents to hospital for precautionary medical attention. The Salvation Army responded to accommodate displaced guests of the hotel. The burned-out residents were provided with emergency necessities like clothes and toiletries and temporarily housed at the nearby Ceasar's Inn.

Last mill deal signed with Carrier, says Steelworkers-IWA
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff Carrier Lumber has signed a deal with their respective contractors' log haulers. It happened Saturday and it may signal the end of the job action taken by logging truck drivers across the region. "Carrier was the last mill to sign on," said United Steelworkers-IWA 1-424 president Frank Everitt, negotiating agent for the non-union truckers who are loosely gathered under the Prince George Trucking Association banner. He said there was no extenuating barriers that kept Carrier Lumber from signing, just that principal owner Bill Kordyban was out of town temporarily and other mills could be dealt with in the meanwhile. Canfor was the first and the rest have followed suit with similar, if not identical deals, he said. Everitt says both sides are relatively satisfied with the new arrangement, although the mutually agreed-upon process allows for a continuation of discussions come this April. "I'm not sure there are any immediate issues still outstanding," Everitt said. "There are continual issues like safety and road maintenance; cycle times will now be posted in the scales, so it will be a known fact what your time should be (how long the drive should take, under average conditions, to haul from a given harvest site). Some of those things were in the process of being worked on and now I think there will be more structure to that, so when the need arises those graders and sand trucks will be used more readily." Everitt says there isn't consensus that the deal between the haulers and the mills is the right one, but the necessary majority has expressed satisfaction. He says he detected a willingness from the mills to improve the status quo and value the work of the haulers, so even if the perfect deal isn't in place yet, the industry just took a big step in the right direction. What needs to happen now is at a personal level, he added. "Certainly there are hard feelings, and it will take some time to heal those things," said Everitt. "You've had people say things to friends that wouldn't be said under normal conditions, but that's what happens when emotions are running high. What is important to keep in mind is cool heads and good sense prevailed and now we are all looking at getting on with a positive future ... The directors of the Prince George Trucking Association and the community are breathing a sigh of relief that we are back on the road."

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Sunday melt didn't dampen cross-country ski championships
by TED CLARKE Citizen staff The aboriginal meaning for the word "chinook" is "snow-melter," and that's exactly what happened when warm winds and light rain decimated the ski trails at Otway Nordic Centre overnight Saturday morning. That forced cancellation of Sunday's meet-ending distance races at the Canadian cross-country ski championships --a disappointing end to a glorious week of ski racing under blue skis and spring-like temperatures. "We lost two inches of groomed packed snow overnight and the hills were pure ice -- you couldn't even walk up them," said Chris Hawkins, chief of competition. The canoe and fishing rod that had been set in the snow as a joke for Friday's sprint races, was floating by Saturday morning. Skiers who had hoped to train on the course, instead set up a ramp, put on their practice skis, and rode the base of the canoe like skateboarders. They capped their visit to Prince George Sunday morning at the unofficial world championship slush-athon relay races at Otway, a combination of skiing, running, and pulling a team member seated on a makeshift wakeboard through a huge water puddle. The UNBC team "Green Machine" ended up winning. The cancellation allowed the skiers to let off some steam Saturday night after their awards presentations, knowing they didn't have to rest up for their long distance race and they took full advantage with a party that lasted into the wee hours Sunday morning. The skiers were left with a little unfinished business on snow but it wasn't enough to tarnish the city's reputation for putting on successful national events. Toura national ski team preparing for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler. "If we were to be asked to come back, we'd come back in a heartbeat," said Dave Dyer, director of marketing and events for Cross-Country Canada. "Everything from the trails to the organization and the ceremonies was first-rate and it's been a real pleasure to come here. I'm sure all the athletes enjoyed themselves. "From an event-hosting perspective, everything is in place here. The real challenge is athlete development, as it is across Canada, and hopefully the youngsters appreciated what happened out at Otway and will join the group. The Caledonia club is big enough, it's just a matter if getting some racers out there and branding the club as a force to be reckoned with." If not for the city's help in collecting 32 semi-trailer dumptruck loads of snow from Bear Lake provincial park, the races would not have happened at Otway and would have been moved to Smithers. Losing one race due to weather conditions isn't bad considering there has been no significant snowfall in the city in more than two months. A cold snap during the 2002 ski nationals in Canmore resulted in cancellation of three race events. Given the choice between the two extremes, there's no doubt the skiers, volunteers, officials and fans who showed up to bask in the sun at Otway were thankful for the early shot of spring. "I think the community came together -- the city of Prince George, the volunteers, the sponsors -- and I think we put on a really good show," said nationals committee co-chair Cal Benson. -- see related stories page 12

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Annie's Mailbox . . . . . . . . 16 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 City, B.C. . . . . 3, 5, 13, 15, 16 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . 20-23 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Coming Events . . . . . . . 2, 16 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Entertainment . . . . . . 18, 19 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

Warm weather may have cancelled the last event of the Canadian cross-country ski championships at the Otway Nordic Centre but organizers managed to find an alternative -- the World Championship Slush-a-thon. Here Tlell Glover, of the victorious UNBC `Green Machine' team, rides a wake board.
nament co-chair Steve Wagar said there was enough money raised to cover all tournament costs, and will be enough left over to replenish the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club's machine budget and return a good chunk of the $100,000 grant received from the city. The tireless efforts of nationals committee members and the volunteers who made it all happen did not go unnoticed by Cross-Country Canada and that puts the city in a solid position to attract events like the biathlon national championships, Canada Cup and Nor-Am events. Also, don't be surprised if Otway hosts

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