A team from nickel miner Vale captured the 2016 Manitoba Provincial Mine Rescue Competition, besting two Hudbay teams and a team from Tanco mine.
The competition took place last weekend in Thompson, where Vale is based. Vale and the Mining Association of Manitoba played host to the event.
The competition pitted four mine rescue teams against each other in practical, technical and firefighting challenges to qualify for the privilege of competing at the national level.
The four teams came from Vale, Hudbay Flin Flon, Hudbay Snow Lake and the Tanco mine near Lac du Bonnet.
Day one featured an underground challenge, where competitors were subjected to a mine rescue scenario and resolved a first aid problem.
On day two, teams alternated between firefighting and technical competitions. The technical portion was a written exam administered to competitors as individuals.
Afterwards, competitors had to troubleshoot and resolve a problem with a malfunctioning breathing apparatus.
Competitors mixed and mingled for the practical skills portion of the event: crib building, the hose roll, the dummy drag, the passageway challenge and the Kaiser sled.
While each competitor was scored individually, many challenges required teamwork. The events were judged and timed by a variety of mine rescue instructors from across the province.
The most dramatic event was the firefighting challenge, where rescuers negotiated three different fire scenarios.
Dave Green from Hudbay Flin Flon won the technician challenge. This year was the first year that the fire component merited its own award, which went to Hudbay Snow Lake.
But the overall championship was claimed by Thompson’s Vale miners for the second year in a row, qualifying them for the National Western Region Mine Rescue Competition to be held in Fernie, BC.
The Hudbay Flin Flon team was made up of Trevor Thurstan, Mike Desjarlais, Travis Pfoh, Dale Holmgren, Damian Dominey, technician Dave Green, director of operations Don Last and coaches Olaf Hettrick and Marshall Manns.
Hudbay’s Snow Lake team consisted of Aldon Kowalchuk, Jordan Galloway, Jeremy Campbell, Jeremy Nickel, Jon Young, technician Bernard Fourie, director of operations Tony Butt and coaches Clint Parsons and Kevin Lief.
– With files from
Jonathon Naylor
