Part of this year’s version of the province’s annual mine-rescue competitions will kick off next month in Kakabeka Falls before the final event is staged at Thunder Bay’s Fort William Gardens.
Ontario Mine Rescue, the provincial agency that organizes the competition, announced on Thursday dates for the preliminary and final rounds to be held in May and June.
Mine-rescue squads from 20 Ontario mines — including Impala Canada’s Lac Des Isles Mine and New Gold Inc.’s Rainy River Mine — are to be graded on how they respond to an on-site emergency.
Squads are not told in advance what emergencies entail, but “scenarios go from extracting casualties trapped in collapses to descending a mine shaft with rope gear,” the province’s chief mine rescue officer, Shawn Rideout said in a news release.
“We’re always finding new ways to challenge the teams,” Rideout added. “These live-action experiences are the best way to put their knowledge to the test.”
In the 2023 competition held in southern Ontario, Lac Des Isles Mine finished as a finalist.
This year’s district-level round is to take place on May 9 at Kakabeka Falls’ NorWest Recreation Centre.
The final provincial round is to take place at Fort William Gardens from June 4-7.
All events are open to the public “to give communities a chance to see highly-trained volunteers in action.”
More information is available online at workplacesafetynorth.ca.
