The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Where there was smoke there was fortunately no fire last week as a temperature-control unit overheated at the Flin Flon Community Hall. An alert custodian observed the smell of smoke in the R.H. Channing Auditorium late last Thursday afternoon, April 25, and promptly informed the city. 'It had the potential of starting a major fire, absolutely,' said Fire Chief Jim Petrie. Mike Dubreuil, recreation manager for the city, was also aware of the possibility of fire. 'We are fortunate we caught it when we did,' he said. Petrie happened to be at City Hall when Dubreuil got the call of the smoky odour. He and Dubreuil then headed directly to the nearby building. Petrie ascended to the roof, where an HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) unit for the auditorium was found to be overheating. The city's mechanical contractor was called in to shut down the unit to prevent any serious damage. As of Monday it was not clear what was wrong with the unit as the contractor was still investigating. Dubreuil said the unit acts as a supplemental heat source for the auditorium when the Community Hall boiler is not on. It also supplies air conditioning, but that is not typically needed at this time of year unless the auditorium is full of people as it was for the recent Chicago musical. Dubreuil said the unit would likely not have overheated outside of work hours since it would not have been in use. He applauded the custodian who observed the smell of smoke, saying this minimized any potential loss to the building. Dubreuil said the incident neither has nor will disrupt events at the auditorium, which remains in use. The only limitation is the lack of air conditioning, but that will be rectified in the near future, he said. While there was no structural damage to the Community Hall, the city recently revealed the building requires costly roof repairs. In fact, Municipal Administrator Mark Kolt said, that building, City Hall, the library and the RCMP and Fire Hall complex together need some $350,000 worth of roof repairs.
