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City of Toronto’s HUSAR team deployed to Elliot Lake

mariomike

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"The mayor of Elliot Lake declared a state of emergency, triggering action from the City of Toronto’s HUSAR team. It deployed for the seven-hour trek Saturday night, bringing tractor trailers, vans and rescue equipment to the northern Ontario town of 11,000, which sits about halfway between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie.":
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1216437--elliot-lake-mall-roof-collapse-toronto-search-team-called-in-as-one-person-trapped
 
HOLY FUCK, someone's HUSAR team was deployed. Better throw MORE money at them.
 
Scott said:
HOLY FUCK, someone's HUSAR team was deployed. Better throw MORE money at them.

Federal funding is likely on their minds after what happened in Vancouver two months ago.

"Feds cut funds to Vancouver urban search and rescue team":
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120420/bc_urban_search_and_rescue_120420/20120420?hub=BritishColumbiaHome






 
CTV
"Rescue efforts called off at Ontario mall collapse: The site of a collapsed mall roof in Elliot Lake, Ont., is too dangerous for emergency crews to continue their search-and-rescue efforts, officials said Monday afternoon.:"
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120625/potential-missing-persons-mall-roof-collapse-120625/20120625/?hub=TorontoNewHome
 
According to a lot of reports there's some real unrest about just leaving the people buried there without confirming if they are dead or alive....

I don't know the situation, but there must be some way of shoring up the ceiling/staircase temporarily.....don't know, not my field....
 
Elliot Lake mall rescuers consider 'extreme measures'
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty urges rescue teams to 'leave no stone unturned'
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/06/25/elliot-lake-mall-rescue-work.html

Rescue crews are preparing to take "more extreme measures" to continue search and recovery efforts at a badly damaged Elliot Lake, Ont., mall, an emergency official says.

Part of the mall roof collapsed on Saturday, but since then, beams and slabs have been falling too, CBC's Ioanna Roumeliotis said. The changing conditions hampered search and rescue efforts and eventually made it too dangerous for crews, a rescue official said earlier Monday.

The decision enraged some local residents, who said that the effort should continue. Some locals even volunteered to go in themselves, but an EMS spokesman later said that couldn't be done.

"We are moving to more extreme measures to move this forward," said Elliot Lake fire Chief Paul Officer. "We're hopeful that we can get some success going here."

The situation at the Algo Centre mall remains dangerous, and rescue workers won't be going into the area, CBC's Natalie Kalata reported Monday night. Instead, crews will work with engineers to try to find more mechanical means of entry into the badly damaged space.

Possibilities included trying to remove two slabs of concrete on the stairwell and escalators, CBC's Cheryl Krawchuk reported.

But exactly how — or when — the teams would proceed with a new process was not immediately clear.

It's also not clear exactly how many people may be trapped, but police said earlier Monday that at least one person was dead . Another person had shown signs of life earlier in the day, but it's not known if that person is still alive, CBC reporter Lorenda Redekopp said Monday after the news conference where officials announced they had to suspend the search.

Provincial police said at an afternoon press conference that 20 people were still reported missing by their families.

"I believe we owe it to the families waiting for word of their loved ones to leave no stone unturned. We owe that to the people of Elliot Lake too. Ontarians expect nothing less," Premier Dalton McGuinty said in a statement.
Safety concerns remain

The search effort at the Algo Centre Mall was called off because of mounting safety concerns, including the threat of another collapse, an official said earlier Monday.

Bill Neadles, with the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team from Toronto, said engineers told him the Algo Centre Mall is under strain and too unstable for rescuers to enter safely. Neadles said crews were facing increasingly precarious conditions as they combed the debris for signs of life.

An unstable escalator that forced crews to remove their cranes from the site earlier in the day continued to separate from its supporting beams as the day progressed, he said.

"Realistically, the engineer's telling me he doesn't understand why it hasn't collapsed already," Neadles said. "The building is … totally unsafe."

When asked how many people they believe are inside the rubble-filled portion of the mall, police said they cannot account for two people. There could be more, as it's not yet clear how many people were trapped.

"Our team is certainly not happy," said Neadles. "I'm not happy, nobody's happy that we have to stop work. But that's unfortunately the way we've had to end this situation."

Neadles said local officials will resume control of the site, which is under investigation by the Ontario Ministry of Labour.

Ministry officials will issue an order for at least part of the mall to be demolished, he added.

Local residents who gathered for the news conference wept, while some said a mine rescue team should be dispatched to the scene.
'Save our family and friends'

A group of about 50 people later gathered outside city hall to urge officials to resume the search, while some went to the mall to protest. The local newspaper said the crowd was chanting, "Rescue missions never end, save our family and friends."

Elliot Lake Mayor Rick Hamilton said he was "hopeful" that the rescue effort could start up again.

"We will be making sure that they exercise every possible avenue to ensure that that rescue is facilitated as quick as possible," Hamilton told the CBC's chief correspondent Peter Mansbridge in an interview Monday night.

Hamilton added he understood why residents were frustrated.

"I can't blame them, and that's why we are making every effort possible to make sure we can expedite the process as quickly as possible," he said.

Throughout, mall manager Rhonda Bear said the owners wanted to see the rescue continue.

Bear told CBC's Ivy Cuervo that the owners are "very devastated" and that the owner was so upset he could barely speak.

"They are on the people’s side on this one," Bear said............................
continues at link.




Search for Elliot Lake survivors back on after premier’s call
Armina Ligaya and Sarah Boesveld, National Post Staff
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/25/elliot-lake-mall-collapse/

Rescuers planned to restart the search for survivors believed trapped in the rubble of the collapsed mall in the northern Ontario city of Elliot Lake, an about-face just hours after operations were called off because it was too dangerous.

Officials were drafting a plan late Monday night to use “more mechanical means” to reach the victims in Algo Centre Mall, at the urging of Premier Dalton McGuinty, said Fire Chief Paul Officer.

Elliot Lake Mayor Rick Hamilton said he had spoken to the premier directly, about the rescue mission to reach at least two victims who are believed to have been trapped since the Saturday afternoon roof collapse.

“He simply said if that was his son or daughter he would like to see every means necessary used to effect the rescue,” he told a 10 p.m. news conference. “Those were his words to me. He also conveyed to me that he was able to continue to provide the assistance required to execute the rescue.”

Just five hours earlier, officials suspended the search, after an engineer determined that the structure was unsafe and a significant portion of the Algo Centre Mall could fall at a anytime, putting rescuers at risk.

Mr. McGuinty said in a statement issued late Monday that he spoke to Emergency Management Ontario and the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team, which travelled to Elliot Lake from Toronto, and instructed them to determine if there is any other way possible to reach any victims without endangering rescuers, including the use of equipment to dismantle the building from the exterior.

“I believe we owe it to the families waiting for word of their loved ones to leave no stone unturned. We owe that to the people of Elliot Lake too.”

Mall owners also were against the decision to call off the search, and began legal action.

Rhonda Bear, the manager of the Algo Centre Mall, said the company’s hopes and prayers were with the family of those affected by the tragedy.

“We heard they are stopping the search. The owners are pleading that they continue the search or allow trained personnel that are still willing to continue,” she told the National Post in an email. “They have lawyers who have begun an injuction against this decision to stop the search.”

Officials have confirmed that one person had died when a section of the mall’s roof caved in, but signs of life from at least one victim were detected early Monday morning.

Still, emergency workers deemed the building too unstable to push ahead.

“The building is unsafe, totally unsafe… I had to make the decision that it is not safe to put the workers back in there because it could be a devastating collapse,” said Bill Needles, a spokesman from the Heavy Urban Search and Rescue team, on Monday at a 5 p.m. news conference.....................
continues at link
 
This morning people were making comparisons to 9/11, i.e. that nobody stopped the rescue effort there.  Many in Elliot Lake seem to want the rescuers to go in regardless of the danger, and there's now a list of 50+ volunteers who want to go in if the rescuers don't.  I wonder what the families of the rescuers want ... both the paid rescuers who aren't going in, and the unpaid volunteers who want to - and it seems they will now have to get past a police barricade in order to do so.

Like GAP, this is not my field either.  Can't do much more than sympathize with the human suffering, both inside & outside the collapsed mall.  It's hard to know what to make of all of this, but it's certainly distressing to hear about, much less be on the scene.  I sure hope there's a piece of good news to come.  Thoughts & prayers to everyone involved. 
 
If you are not able to secure the scene, you risk becoming another casualty and worsening the situation.
 
dapaterson said:
If you are not able to secure the scene, you risk becoming another casualty and worsening the situation.

It's a McSquinty political play.
 
dapaterson said:
If you are not able to secure the scene, you risk becoming another casualty and worsening the situation.

That's obvious - it's why the rescuers are refusing to go in.  Nevertheless, sometimes people go in anyway, even when they can't secure things.  Tough job to make these calls at the scene, that's for sure.

 
Rule number one of emergency response: do not make yourself a victim.

It's not an enviable position to be in, that's for sure. I would suspect that McGuinty's impassioned plea did little to bolster further thought about how to carry out search and rescue here and I am sure that the teams are doing everything they can to find a way to get in there as safely as possible.
 
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/pm-offers-help-of-canadian-forces-in-elliot-lake-rescue-efforts/article4370778/


The military is ready to help the increasingly desperate rescue operation at a collapsed mall in the northern Ontario community of Elliot Lake, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.
"The Prime Minister has offered the assistance of the federal government," said Andrew MacDougall, a spokesman for Mr. Harper. "Officials are in contact with the province to ascertain what assets would be of use."

The offer comes after Mr. Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty conferred about the disaster. And it follows suggestions that community volunteers were ready to take matters into their own hands.
After suspending rescue efforts Monday because of risk to emergency crews, officials were ready Tuesday to try “a little more drastic” measures.

MORE AT LINK.
 
bridges said:
This morning people were making comparisons to 9/11, i.e. that nobody stopped the rescue effort there.

From what I have read, even at Ground Zero, rescue efforts were paused numerous times in the days after the attack, due to concerns that nearby buildings were in danger of collapsing.

September 14, 2001
New York Daily News:
"A fight vs. steel, despair & weather Rescuers press on valiantly, despite odds":
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2001-09-14/news/18363334_1_rescuers-world-trade-center-rescue-workers

I have confidence in our HUSAR paramedics who were deployed to Elliot Lake. 
They are trained in collapse, confined space, trench, high angle, Crush Syndrome, Compartment Syndrome and receive advanced HAZ-MAT training.
They can intubate a victim in a narrow crawl space, work in harnesses and protective masks, rappel from ropes and operate among debris.:
http://www.torontoems.ca/main-site/service/husar.html


 
What specific resources and personnel can the Military offer to a situation like this?
 
Civvymedic said:
What specific resources and personnel can the Military offer to a situation like this?

I have confidence in our HUSAR paramedics who were deployed to Elliot Lake. 
They are trained in collapse, confined space, trench, high angle, Crush Syndrome, Compartment Syndrome and receive advanced HAZ-MAT training.
They can intubate a victim in a narrow crawl space, work in harnesses and protective masks, rappel from ropes and operate among debris.:
http://www.torontoems.ca/main-site/service/husar.html
 
Civvymedic said:
What specific resources and personnel can the Military offer to a situation like this?

Engineers, SAR techs, etc...
 
I assumed so as well CDN Aviator but I was not certain. I would think the Military would have additional tools and expertise.  The Toronto HUSAR team is well trained but I know of other teams in the U.S.A. with further experience and equipment. I just hope all the resources that should be there have been called upon.
 
Some military firefighters have had USAR training. They were used in Haiti after the earthquake.
 
No training in the world will help anyone if the building falls on them while using that expertise.....
 
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