Manuel Quimper Motel: hosts a fire training event
MapleLine Magazine: Aug.25, 2010 << Back to Breaking News
September
11, 2010 page update - Heroes in the Sky - fundraiser for the Sooke
Fire Rescue. More photos
of Heroes in the Sky.
SOOKE, BC. During the week of September 20 to 24, the old Manuel Quimper Motel in Sooke will be used in a series of deliberately set fires as a training exercise for over 100 fire, police and insurance investigators.
The motel
-- centrally located in Sooke at 6585 Sooke Road -- is still promoted
online on many travel and tourism websites, but is now slated for demolition as part of the new
Mariner’s Village
(condominium, retail shops and marina development). The property was donated to the Sooke Fire Rescue
Service by Condor
Properties Ltd. The closed 20-unit motel will become a live fire classroom for the students
where they will learn techniques and skills for investigating a variety
of accidental and arson related fires. The
International Association of
Arson Investigators will provide the instructors for the week-long
event.
"Having 20 furnished rooms to observe during a burn will be a rare training opportunity," says Sooke Fire Chief Steve Sorensen. He explained that computer sensors will be used to observe how fast heat rises and how long it takes for temperatures to lower again. Observers, including fire rescue volunteers, local municipal politicians and insurance investigators, will be able to watch scenarios (that they otherwise just read or hear about) in real time.
Demonstrations on the effects of residential sprinkler systems will also be featured as one of the motel rooms will be equipped with a sprinkler system while an identical adjoining room will be left as is without the benefit of sprinkler protection.
Simultaneous fires will be set and the outcome will be immediately seen. Several of the fires will be used as research for better understanding of a fires progression and how different building features and environmental influences can affect the spread of fire. It is hoped that this information can be incorporated into future codes and standards that may ultimately save lives and property.
The Sooke Fire Rescue Service
also recently participated in the nationl The Fire Within
calendar project. They did a photo shoot at Whiffen Spit as well as at
the fire hall. The calendars will be given to each donor of $20 or more
dollars at the upcoming Heroes in the Sky event on Sat. September 11
from 10 am to 10 pm. The all-collections-for-charity event will see up
to 12 local dignitaries suspended from the fire department's ladder
truck; all in good fun, the donations from onlookers will activate
lowering of the dignitaries to the ground, foot by foot. Running
alongside the 4th annual Sooke Lions Club
Great Chili Challenge
at 6639 Sooke Road (across from Evergreen Centre) with dunk tank, bouncy house, and
family fair, the Heroes in the Sky event is sure to draw a crowd during
the back to school season.
The
closed and abandoned Manuel Quimper Motel is still listed on travel and
tourism websites throughout the Internet that have not been updated.
Manuel Quimper
(1757-1844) was a Spanish seafaring explorer who charted the south/west
shores of Vancouver Island in the 1790s. As part of his charting and
mapping, Quimper named Gonzales Point in Victoria, BC (and indirectly
Gonzales Bay and Gonzales Hill at the same location), Puerto de Cordova
(now Esquimalt), Rada de Eliza (now Pedder Bay, BC) and Puerta de
Revillagigedo (now Sooke, BC). Named for the cartographer and explorer
are such landmarks as Mount Manuel Quimper on Vancouver Island and
Quimper Park, a commemorative site near Sooke, BC which was dedicated on
June 23, 1990 to mark the 200th anniversary of Quimper's landing there. MM
Links:
>> Sooke Fire Rescue Service - blog page
>> Manuel Quimper - cartographer, explorer, naval officer
>> Mariner's Village - town core development in Sooke, BC
This page is sponsored by the MapleLine Journalism Program, starting its 2nd year of monthly workshops this September.
This article Copyright 2010 Brookeline Publishing House Inc. & MapleLine Magazine