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Community Comments
LAST UPDATE December 30, 2008
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Don't believe everything you read here unless you know it is fact as these comments below are only the writers own opinion which could be based on their own belief which may not always be true.
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NAME:
ADDRESS:
COMMUNITY: Valley of the Sun
OTHERCOMMUNITY:
PHONENUMBER:
EMAIL:
Date: February 25, 2008
COMMENTS
I have heard a lot about you and this whole thing is out rageous!
NAME: OkanaganLakeBC.com
ADDRESS:
COMMUNITY: Valley of the Sun
OTHERCOMMUNITY:
PHONENUMBER:
EMAIL:
Date: February 23, 2008
COMMENTS
Jan you can say what you wish, but you can't say that you know me! I don't know who you are.
NAME: Jan
ADDRESS:
COMMUNITY: Westside Road
OTHERCOMMUNITY:
PHONENUMBER:
EMAIL:
Date: February 23, 2008
COMMENTS
Oh my, I have just found out that this whole thing is one woman against everything, who has a previous mental problem and may be dangerous. Everyone stop reading this web site and stay safe! Thank god we have our firefighters and emergency people nearby.
NAME: okanaganlakebc.com
ADDRESS:
COMMUNITY: Valley of the Sun
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EMAIL:
Date: February 20, 2008
COMMENTS
John says: Now you are giving advice about chimneys. What are your qualifications?
The only qualifications I have is that I have used both a wood stove and a pellet stove. After the fire on Kildare Way I brushed my chimney and removing the cap I used burning newspaper in my cap. I watched the black shiny stuff inside on the walls of the cap start on fire and expand to about 2 inches. The black shiny stuff took awhile to stop burning and the black shiny stuff became non-shiny and brittle after it was burnt. I tapped my cap against a rock and the brittle pieces fell down. I think where the cold air meets the hot air at the cap is the worst area. We just had a cold spell and I used a lot of fuel this past while so my chimney really needed cleaning. I usually clean it about once per month and sometimes sooner.... depending on the weather. I was at my neighbours last month and I could smell the creosote of her wood stove. I said to her that her chimney needed cleaning because I could smell it, and the next day she called me on the phone and said that I was right and that she had a chimney fire that night. She did not call the fire dept but I am sure it scared her. The next day while I was visiting, she banged on the black pipe behind the wood stove and you could hear the brittle stuff falling off the walls of the pipe. A long time ago I had a chimney fire too ... I was cleaning my chimney pipe from the bottom because I was too scared to get up on my roof and I pushed all the creosote up into the cap and never climbed on the roof to clean the cap. One night I noticed I had a campfire about 4 feet wide on the top of my house. Luckily I had a tin roof and I didn't call the fire dept. because I had an old wood stove that was not approved and luckily the fire went out. I had just cleaned the chimney the night before. I threw that old wood stove out and never used it again, and so I recommend that you clean your chimney from the top so that you can look to see if your cap needs to be cleaned too.
NAME:
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COMMUNITY: Other Community Not Listed
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Date: February 20, 2008
COMMENTS
From the outside looking in the fire department may appear to be a well run organization, unfortunately it is a poorly managed organization plagued with favoritism and hidden agendas. If an experienced firefighter from another department were to join this department they would be appalled at the lack of command, control and protocol. The regional district is well aware of the situation but have chosen to take a wait and see attitude. This attitude of the regional district has been seen many times in the past with the Joe Rich FD scandal as well as Wilson's Landing. The sad thing about this is that it may take a tragic situation in order for it to be appropriately addressed. Lets just hope it is not the life or well being of one our neighbours to get the regional district and the community at large to realize things are not as they should be.
NAME: John
ADDRESS:
COMMUNITY: Valley of the Sun
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PHONENUMBER:
EMAIL:
Date: February 20, 2008
COMMENTS
Now you are giving advice about chimneys. What are your qualifications?
NAME: Carol
ADDRESS:
COMMUNITY: Westshore Estates
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EMAIL:
Date: February 20, 2008
COMMENTS
I too applaud the fire department. They have been to my house on two calls. Both times they were very professional and well trained. They saved my husbands life. I cannot thank them enough.
NAME: Jan
ADDRESS:
COMMUNITY: Westside Road
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PHONENUMBER:
EMAIL:
Date: February 20, 2008
COMMENTS
I applaud our fire department, and all the men and women who are dedicated, in most cases without pay, to assisting our community and saving lives. It is remarkable that we have a first-rate department and crew located in a rural area where taxes are comparably low compared to the city (Vernon, Kelowna, etc.) Let's support our local firefighters. Keep up the great work all of you!
NAME: Art
ADDRESS:
COMMUNITY: Westside Road
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Date: February 19, 2008
COMMENTS
*Note* All Okanagalakebc.coms comments are in red and Arts comments are in blue in his first comment below this comment, and green in his second comment (this comment starting right here). We coloured it so it would be easier to read.
Webmaster I truly cannot believe you print such garbage on your website. Your anonymous informer appears to have an axe to grind (some people do have axes to grind and that is their decision not ours so please don't shoot the messenger (as the messenger you are helping people to grind their axe). or would you rather not know that some people may be upset) I like to know if people are upset with something, what I do not like is the way you present the information to the public. As the messenger it is not up to you to speak badly of anyone. with the fire department and is using you to further their own agenda, (the comment forms are for everyone and not just the people who have certain opinions) You totally missed the point. The person who sent you the email has a poison pen and it is up to you as the webmaster of this website to stop this from happening. This is not a person of integrity. (maybe not but then again maybe this person knows more than we do) Apparently most people know more that you do. They don’t have the guts to address any concerns about the fire department to the Chief. (We tried contacting the Chief but he doesn't answer his email) Nobody answers your email. If they do, they get what you did to mine or worse. (Explain what we did with your email please) If you think the fire department made a mistake, you are badly mistaken. They did their best and you piled garbage on an already difficult situation for the community. To even suggest that the fire department did anything but their best is disgusting. (We didn't suggest it, we heard from people in the community that went to the fire on Kildare Way) Then I would suggest you get the facts rather than print the garbage (gossip and rumor) that you do print. Your source has been greatly misleading you. (We talked to the people who say they were at the fire on Kildare) And they are authorities on fire fighting? Do you not realize the community has been building a fire department that will be able to put up one heck of a fight against a forest fire? Fire is a strong force and not every fire can be put out as we saw in the Kelowna fires of 2003. (That is why we need to have the best fire dept. We do have one of the best. ... we are sure the fires aren't over) If you would listen to someone when they try to tell you something you might hear that our fire department is very well equipped to handle forest fires. (Nobody told us this yet, but you) People have been trying to tell you since you started this website and all they get for their trouble is an attack letter from you. They have any number of ways to fight interface fires and lots of training to back it up. The new water truck was purchased to make sure Valley of the Sun and other areas without water supply would be able to get help. (Valley of the Sun, Upper Fintry and Shalal road has been here for years and they are just getting a water truck for these subdivisions now or is this a replacement truck) This is a replacement. The trucks have to be replaced when they become too old. After such criticism of the fire department, I would be concerned about getting a quick response to any emergency at your house. (I would hope that the fire dept wouldn't threaten us in that way!) They wouldn’t, but I certainly wouldn’t rush to help you after you have verbally attacked most everyone that has worked hard for this community. They too have been doing their best. It is not easy to get volunteers for the fire department. Fighting fires is hard work and dangerous so not just anyone will volunteer for such a position. The medical responders are another part of the training. The training is ongoing. Some of the fire fighters are new and taking constant training to improve their skills. These firefighters are local people who volunteer their time and effort to protect our community. (We feel we need a full-time paid fire dept and not just a volunteer fire dept where members are maybe quitting and then we have to train someone else who joins. We need trained people not people in training. How much does all this training cost for someone to quit after?). It would be wonderful to have a full time fire department. Who would pay for this? You are constantly complaining that you don’t want your taxes to go up. (How about just one full-time fire truck? The Fire Chief could haul water around with him as he is driving around. We heard that the Fire Chief's truck (can't find a picture of it on the NWFR website but here is one) doesn't carry water but now we hear that is not true, but that the fire chiefs truck does carry water... we were mistaken in what we heard ... maybe the truck didn't have any water or maybe the fire chief chose not to use the water he had ... we have no clue ... but one neighbour did say that the fire chief had no water or something to that effect) Each time they are called out to a fire, road accident, medical emergency or any other emergency, those firefighters give their all to the situation at hand. (We bet they do, but that is not the point we are trying to make here) What point are you trying to make? (That maybe things can be improved upon) They certainly cannot be faulted when they are doing their best. (We don't fault the fire fighters we applaud them as like you said not everyone wants to volunteer) Then why are you printing gossip and rumors about the fire department? (Rumors are good to get to the truth ... just what this page says). Anyone can be an armchair quarterback. That certainly doesn’t mean they know anything. (Exactly, were you at the last fire or did you do any investigation yourself?) I have already seen our fire department in action when they have done displays, taken a tour of the fire department and been shown the equipment and asked any questions I wanted to ask when they have community days. I have enough confidence in the fire department to know they did the best they could and will continue to do so. What more could you ask for? (Things can always be improved upon and the more discussion the more ideas that come about.) They are entitled to their opinion. But when you put rumors and gossip on your website and call it news (we called it gossip or rumors and not news) Sorry for the error. (No prob.) What I don’t understand is why you print the garbage you print that attacks people for no reason. you are way over the line. (Because this is a democracy and we are permitted to be wrong too) With all the rumor and gossip that is spread out here, don’t you think if the fire department was doing a bad job the Board of firefighters who govern the fire departments would hear about and investigate? (No because everyone wants to be anonymous) I would not hesitate to send a letter of complaint if I thought there was any wrong doing on the part of anyone in the community and I would not hesitate to sign it. Those who want to remain anonymous are immediately suspect as a source of correct information to most people. We aren’t a little island out here that doesn’t have rules. The fire department has rules. You don’t get promoted in the fire department if you don’t have the training or can’t do the job. (How many fire fighters are fully trained to operate the trucks) That information I do not have. (Well that's something we feel we should find out) There are people with far more knowledge than you and your source who have written guidelines for the management of the fire department. Any fire department must work within these guidelines and ours most certainly does. Criticizing our firefighters is certainly not the way to go. (we are trying to make sure our house don't burn down this coming season, and you seem to be criticizing us) I am criticizing you. There is no us, we or anyone but you and I think your comments and gossip and rumors are far more than people should have to put up with. How do you think the fire fighters feel about your rumors and gossip? This is not the way to make sure your house doesn’t burn down. (Well either way my house might burn down so I guess it doesn't matter then.) At the very least I would like to see you remove the garbage from your website and send a written letter of apology to the fire department and post that letter on your website. Thank you for your time, Art (We would like to know that the community is safe before something does happen. The community is as safe as it can be. Some things are beyond the control of people and machines. .. questions have come up and we wish to be proactive rather than reactive, you missed the proactive part and went to the reactive. Reacting with gossip and rumors. if there is a problem as people we talked to have been saying. Would it be better to ask the questions that come up rather than attack the fire department with rumors and gossip? People would not say mistruths if they didn't believe them. That still does not make them the truth. If that was our house on Kildare 2 blocks from the fire dept, we would be livid about why more of it was not saved... the whole roof caved in and the house is a write off even though it had a fire hydrant right out front and it was two blocks from the fire hall. This is again one of your rediculous comments without any knowledge behind it. Time and distance is not the issue. How bad was the fire burning when the fire department got there? Bad enough that they were not able to put it out for quite a while. That is not the fault of the fire fighters or the equipment or how close the fire hydrant is, some fires cannot easily be stopped. Just so we are clear, calling the fire department does not necessarily mean they can put the fire out in a few minutes... and why have a fire dept if the house is going to be a write off... we hope that the fire dept isn't just here to save the forest.) This is again one of your nasty comments. Some houses are going to be write offs. We have a fire department to do the best they can with each situation. (It was kinda nasty wasn't it ... sorry! We know not every house can be saved)
Some of us are worried and its ok if you are not worried Art ... that is good ... then you feel safe. Since you feel we print garbage, maybe you feel the newspaper can do a better job of this story than we can. We wouldn't bother contacting the newspaper but it seems that if people feel okanaganlakebc.com does such a bad job of trying to get to the truth, we felt we needed to call the professionals to do it for us. Maybe while we are at it we should contact the Board of firefighters who govern the fire departments like you say they govern the fire dept. Hopefully the truth will prevail. Hopefully we we have the best ever fire dept.
NAME: Art
ADDRESS:
COMMUNITY: Westside Road
OTHERCOMMUNITY:
PHONENUMBER:
EMAIL: nwbuzz@yahoo.ca
Date: February 19, 2008
COMMENTS
Webmaster I truly cannot believe you print such garbage on your website. Your anonymous informer appears to have an axe to grind (some people do have axes to grind and that is their decision not ours so please don't shoot the messenger or would you rather not know that some people may be upset) with the fire department and is using you to further their own agenda (the comment forms are for everyone and not just the people who have certain opinions). This is not a person of integrity. (maybe not but then again maybe this person knows more than we do) They don’t have the guts to address any concerns about the fire department to the Chief. (We tried contacting the Chief but he doesn't answer his email) If you think the fire department made a mistake, you are badly mistaken. They did their best and you piled garbage on an already difficult situation for the community. To even suggest that the fire department did anything but their best is disgusting. (We didn't suggest it, we heard from people in the community that went to the fire on Kildare Way) Your source has been greatly misleading you. (We talked to the people who say they were at the fire on Kildare) Do you not realize the community has been building a fire department that will be able to put up one heck of a fight against a forest fire? Fire is a strong force and not every fire can be put out as we saw in the Kelowna fires of 2003. (That is why we need to have the best fire dept.... we are sure the fires aren't over) If you would listen to someone when they try to tell you something you might hear that our fire department is very well equipped to handle forest fires. (Nobody told us this yet, but you) They have any number of ways to fight interface fires and lots of training to back it up. The new water truck was purchased to make sure Valley of the Sun and other areas without water supply would be able to get help. (Valley of the Sun, Upper Fintry and Shalal road has been here for years and they are just getting a water truck for these subdivisions now or is this a replacement truck) After such criticism of the fire department, I would be concerned about getting a quick response to any emergency at your house. (I would hope that the fire dept wouldn't threaten us in that way!) It is not easy to get volunteers for the fire department. Fighting fires is hard work and dangerous so not just anyone will volunteer for such a position. The medical responders are another part of the training. The training is ongoing. Some of the fire fighters are new and taking constant training to improve their skills. These firefighters are local people who volunteer their time and effort to protect our community. (We feel we need a full-time paid fire dept and not just a volunteer fire dept where members are maybe quitting and then we have to train someone else who joins. We need trained people not people in training. How much does all this training cost for someone to quit after?). Each time they are called out to a fire, road accident, medical emergency or any other emergency, those firefighters give their all to the situation at hand. (We bet they do, but that is not the point we are trying to make here) They certainly cannot be faulted when they are doing their best. (We don't fault the fire fighters we applaud them as like you said not everyone wants to volunteer) Anyone can be an armchair quarterback. That certainly doesn’t mean they know anything. (Exactly, were you at the last fire or did you do any investigation yourself?) They are entitled to their opinion. But when you put rumors and gossip on your website and call it news (we called it gossip or rumors and not news), you are way over the line. With all the rumor and gossip that is spread out here, don’t you think if the fire department was doing a bad job the Board of firefighters who govern the fire departments would hear about and investigate? (No because everyone wants to be anonymous) We aren’t a little island out here that doesn’t have rules. The fire department has rules. You don’t get promoted in the fire department if you don’t have the training or can’t do the job. (How many fire fighters are fully trained to operate the trucks) There are people with far more knowledge than you and your source who have written guidelines for the management of the fire department. Any fire department must work within these guidelines and ours most certainly does. Criticizing our firefighters is certainly not the way to go. (we are trying to make sure our house don't burn down this coming season, and you seem to be criticizing us) At the very least I would like to see you remove the garbage from your website and send a written letter of apology to the fire department and post that letter on your website. Thank you for your time, Art (We would like to know that the community is safe before something does happen... questions have come up and we wish to be proactive rather than reactive, if there is a problem as people we talked to have been saying. People would not say mistruths if they didn't believe them. If that was our house on Kildare 2 blocks from the fire dept, we would be livid about why more of it was not saved... the whole roof caved in and the house is a write off even though it had a fire hydrant right out front and it was two blocks from the fire hall... and why have a fire dept if the house is going to be a write off... we hope that the fire dept isn't just here to save the forest.)
NAME:
ADDRESS:
COMMUNITY: Valley of the Sun
OTHERCOMMUNITY:
PHONENUMBER:
EMAIL:
Date: January 09, 2008
COMMENTS
The new election boundaries for Central Okanagan West made the North Westside Road area (Killiney Beach area) become much larger adding the Trepanier and Brent Road areas of Peachland plus two Indian Reserves in Westbank. A new director was elected for this new area, namely Jim Edgson. Killiney Beach area did not vote Jim Edgson in, but Jim was elected by the other areas of Trepanier/Brent Road and the Indian Reserves. Now Killiney Beach has to live with the areas decision. If just Killiney Beach residents voted in the November 2007 election for director for Central Okanagan West then Dave Robertson would have been our director instead. Since the other areas didn't know Jim, that is how he was elected or he probably wouldn't be our director today. Killiney Beach electors who voted for Dave Robertson are not impressed!! Areas need to stay small so that people know who they are electing personally, and so people do not just elect someone based on campaign flyers and signs but by their personality and the way they treat their family!! If they treat their family bad then you know they probably treat you bad too!!
NAME:
ADDRESS:
COMMUNITY: Fintry
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PHONENUMBER:
EMAIL:
Date: October 13, 2007
COMMENTS
What galls me is that Wayne is proudly strutting around jerking Jim off with his campaign, that he makes Dave Robertson take a leave of absence, sign for it, and then ask for all his gear, saying it's a conflict of interest! Again, it's ok for Wayne to do it but no one else. Just like a few other things this man does... Dave happens to be the most dedicated firefighter he has on the dept. and he demanded that Dave leave. Why? He is scared that if Dave wins, that his little empire he built is going to come crashing down. Not to mention that Jim promised Wayne if he got elected as director, he'd make sure Wayne would remain chief out here until he retired. It's great that this is here to be able to say your peace and let your frustrations be known to everyone, but what we all need to do is GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!!! If enough of us go out and do this, we can make a difference and changes can be made.
NAME:
ADDRESS:
COMMUNITY: Killiney Beach
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PHONENUMBER:
EMAIL:
Date: October 13, 2007
COMMENTS
An interesting note on this full time fire chief position is that the position wasn't advertised or fairly contested in any way. It was just given to Wayne Carson on the advice of NWCA and the fire advisory committee both of which are heavily influenced by none other than Jim Edgson and Wayne Carson. How democratic is this? Word on the street is that he was the best man for the job. Of course he is when he's the only one offered the opportunity. Now we have chief Carson proudly flying the flag of Jim's campaign. Since when was it prudent for a civil servant to be so involved in a campaign like this anyway, and especially at fire practice when he is being paid to serve as a civil servant? Talk about conflict of interest and abuse of authority. As for the rescue boat. Yeah sure, maybe they should have a helicopter and a water bomber too. Perhaps an in house lawyer to take care of all these law suits as well.
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