Friday, February 23, 2007

THERE IS MORE THAN JUST TICKETS TO OUR SNOW MACHINE PATROLS

Dennis Twp, Ont.,

Although snow machine safety is a priority for our snow machine patrol officers, yesterday provided another example of why police and S.T.O.P. officers are on patrol.

Yesterday at bout 5:00 p.m. the officers were patrolling the trails in the Prince Township and Dennis Township area. They came across two people who had broken down and had apparently blown a piston on their machine. One person advised officers that he was intending on walking back to Goulais River for assistance.

Officers were able to convince the couple that they were much closer to Red Rock and that a walk back to Goulais River may not be advisable with a cold front moving in.

One of the S.T.O.P. officers had a relative in the Red Rock area. Officers towed the machine to safety and transported the couple to the S.T.O.P. officer’s relative’s house to warm up and call for help.

The officers continued on their patrols and found a large tree had fallen across the trail blocking the entire trail. They were successful in removing the tree with the emergency equipment they carry. Now lets just take that example and think about this. What if you are one of those very few snow machine operators who feels you should have the right to scream down the trail at “cyber speeds” ….what if it was you who came across the downed tree? Enough said.


FATAL FIRE SCENE EXAMINATION COMPLETE

Heyden. Ont.,

An examination of the fatal fire scene that took the lives of a father and son in Heyden this week is complete.

On Monday 19 Feb 2007 at about 1:15 a.m. neighbours living on Willa Drive in Heyden were woken up by the sounds of a house on fire. Forty seven year old Wayne Clifford Marshall and his eighteen year old son John Wayne Marshall perished in the fire.

An Inspector with the Office of the Fire Marshal, members of the OPP Forensic Identification Unit and the OPP Crime Unit completed their investigation at the house yesterday.

The investigation is focusing on the heating system in the home which in this case was a wood stove. Several evidentiary samples were taken from the scene and are being sent to the Northern Regional Laboratory of the Center of Forensic Sciences in Sault Ste Marie for further testing. At this particular time in the investigation, no foul play is suspected in this fire.

A final determination on the fire will not be made until the samples have been analyzed and the Office of the Fire Marshal receives a detailed report from the Northern Regional Laboratory