Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 2, 2009, Winnipeg, Manitoba C m y k Page a3 a barn fire near had Ashville killed 900 hogs tuesday capping off the deadliest and costliest year for the provinces hog Industry due to barn fires in nearly a decade. Roughly 30,500 hogs including adult animals and piglets died in barn fires in Manitoba in 2008, according to statistics from the province. Thatus eight times More hog deaths than in 2007, when 3,700 pigs were killed in barn fires. I dont recall any years As bad As this said Manitoba pork Council general manager Andrew Dickson. The Blaze tuesday afternoon broke out during barn renovations which included construction work like Metal grinding and welding. The fire caused $ 500,000 in damage and the office of the fire commissioner ruled it accidental. No one was injured but ramp say the barn is a Complete loss. Manitoba has More than 500 registered pork producers and 1,700 properties with hog barns on them some with multiple barns. Dickson said the scale of newer hog operations can automatically increase the death toll in fires. The barns Are bigger he said. So when you get a fire these Days it does affect a lot More animals. In 1999, More than 38,000 hogs died in nine fires around the province. The financial toll of barn fires also skyrocketed in 2008. Hog barn blazes caused More than $ 26 million in damage compared to roughly $ 4 million in damage the year before. Hog Industry spokesmen have said the future is Bleak for the Industry in Manitoba because the provincial government concerned about pollution from hogs restricted new hog operations or the expansion of existing operations. But Dickson dismissed talk of a connection Between the number of is just Idle speculation. Its nobody yes advantage to have a fire he said. The last thing you need is a fire because your insurance costs go through the roof. Manitoba has no building code for farm buildings like barns which Are not required under provincial Law to have safety features like sprinklers or smoke detectors. However after years of discussion provincial fire commissioner Doug Popowich said this week such a code will be in place by the end of 2009. All of the interested parties Are concerned that there is no building code around barns like this said Popowich. Weave agreed to work on putting together and having a building code in place by the end of this year. Popowich said the new code will require fire stopping measures in hog barn attics which Are often wide open and allow fires to spread easily. The Lack of a barn building code goes Back to the 1970s, when the definition of a farm building was based on smaller family farms rather than to Days larger operations. Hog Industry. The code will Only apply to new barns and the current moratorium restricts the building of new hog barns in the Eastern part of the province where two thirds of production takes place. Popowich said there Are no plans to require that existing buildings be retrofitted. Winnipeg humane society executive director Bill Mcdonald said the organization raised concerns about the Lack of building codes for farm buildings Back in 2006. Its not Only the thing about hogs burning to death there should be fire alarms in these buildings for the employees the workers As Well. Its a safety Issue he said. Dickson said newer barns Are built by professional engineers following the National farm building code and said insurance companies demand certain building standards. He said in his experience most barn fires Are due to electrical problems. The real Issue is to get operators to make sure they Check All their buildings regularly he said. Lindsey. Wiebe free press. My. Ca fires and the struggling Industry and said any suggestion of possible insurance fraud however the new code Likely wont have much of an effect on Manitoba ass existing hog barn blazes in Manitoba year number of fires fatalities Cost 2002 6 1,579 hogs $ 4,558,613 2003 9 2,628 hogs $ 3,933,092 2004 5 1,060 hogs $ 715,300 2005 7 4,024 hogs $ 3,564,000 2006 8 7,387 hogs $ 7,102,000 2007 6 3,700 hogs $ 4,276,425 2008 7 30,559 hogs $ 26,351,000 botox rest Lane Juve derm wow. . Com pm 957 7242 or. Earl Minukus All treatments by dermatologist or. Earl Minuk 20% save up to extended to january 16 top news Winnipeg free press Friday january 2, 2009 Winnipeg repress. Com a 3 w Winnipeg is 311 Telephone service should be up and running this month fulfilling the final recommendation from the investigations into the february 2000 deaths of two women whose repeated Calls to 911 were ignored. Nearly nine years ago Sisters Doreen Leclair and Corrine Mckeown placed five Calls to Winnipeg Gas 911 emergency line Over an eight hour period. When police finally arrived at their Home the siblings had been stabbed to death by my Keowns sex Boyfriend Bill Dunlop who is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of second degree murder. A provincial inquest into the Sisters deaths and a City audit of its 911 communications Centre revealed serious flaws in the Way Winnipeg handled emergency Calls resulting in a series of improvements and new procedures Early in this decade. But the final improvement a 311 line to Field non emergency inquiries and reduce traffic on vital emergency lines has proven difficult to implement since former mayor Glen Murray first pledged to get the service up and running in 2002, when he flew to Chicago on a fact finding Mission. Winnipeg Gas single desk Telephone service will finally go online before the end of january said mayor Sam Katz who initially pledged to create a 311 line in 2005 As one of the recommendations of his red tape commission. What Well be Able to do As Ive said before burning building Call 911. Burning question 311, Katz said earlier this month. The mayor first uttered those words during his 2006 reelection Campaign. At the time he pledged to have 311 running by the end of 2007 and use the system to track the Progress of inquiries to ensure City staff follow through on citizen questions or complaints about everything from potholes to building permits. But katzes pledge proved impossible to accomplish during that time Frame. It took project managers longer than expected to weigh the pros and cons of delivering the new service under three different models contracting out the Telephone service handling the Job with existing City equipment and staff or developing some form of Public private partnership. In october 2007, the City reached a Deal with the Canadian Union of Public employees local 500 to consolidate 22 existing Call centres into a single 311 service without outsourcing any labour. That Deal called for the City to create and operate a 311 Call Centre at a Cost of about $ 31.1 million Over its first five years. In february 2008, City Council chose to place the new Call Centre in an 11,000 Square foot office space in the Cit place building at a Cost of $ 1.1 million for renovations and furnishings. Project managers have spent the rest of the 22 separate Call centres say the Long awaited project is on schedule for a january launch. This will be one wonderful thing for our City once people really understand what it does. It will be fantastic Katz said. People will appreciate one number As opposed to hundreds of numbers out there. Federal broadcast regulators initially paved the Way for a 311 service in Winnipeg in 2004, when it granted seven Canadian cities permission to use the number to handle nonemergency Calls. Callers who dial 311 in Winnipeg now will hear a recorded statement promising the line will be in operation by the end of the month. A formal launch will take place in coming weeks City officials say. Bartley. Kives free press. My. Ca year preparing the transition from to a single 311 desk. City officials the Road to 311 Winnipeg Gas nine year journey toward the creation of a single desk Telephone Call Centre 2000 Sisters Doreen Leclair and Corrine Mckeown above Are stabbed to death by my Keowns Boyfriend after calling 911 five times Over an eight hour period in february. 2001 a provincial inquest into the Sisters death As Well As police investigations and a subsequent City audit reveal serious flaws in Winnipeg Gas overburdened emergency communications Centre. Recommendations for improvement include the creation of a 311 line to handle non emergency Calls. 2002 former mayor Glen Murray flies to Chicago on a 311 fact finding Mission. 2004 the crts approves Winnipeg Gas application to use 311 for non emergency Calls. 2005 mayor Sam katzes red tape commission recommends the creation of a 311 Telephone service 2006 up for re election Katz pledges to get 311 up and running by the end of 2007. 2007 the City reaches a Deal with its largest Union to create a 311 Call Centre without contracting out any labour. 2008 Cit place is chosen to be the Home of the new Call Centre. 2009 311 is slated to replace 22 separate City Call centres before january comes to a close. 311 plan awaits first Call new City hotline expected to free 911 for emergencies by Bartley Kives farms feel heat from fires number of pigs killed in barn blazes skyrockets in 2008 by Lindsey Wiebe the owner of a 124 year old warehouse in the Exchange District wants the City to remove the five Storey Structure from its heritage inventory As a prelude to demolition. Prosperity knitwear chairman Henry Tang has asked the City for permission to demolish the company is factory outlet store at 145 Princess ave., according to a City report published wednesday. The company wants to Knock Down the Structure officially known As the smart bag company building in order to sell the lot for redevelopment the report states. But City heritage experts want to place the Structure on the Cit yes buildings conservation list and protect it As a historic property. This property originally built in 1884 with a Small addition in 1906, is an outstandingly Early rare and handsome example of the romanesque revival style the report states. The very prominent addition of 1913, while not rare is an extremely Good example of a More modern interpretation of the romanesque revival style. The historical buildings committee has asked councils property and development committee to formalize the buildings heritage status. A decision will be made on tuesday. Heritage Winnipeg is registered in favour of the heritage status while Prosperity knitwear plans to argue against it. The building is virtually empty the report states. Bartley. Kives free press. My. Ca warehouse owner seeks to demolish Exchange building Phil Hossack / Winnipeg free press archives seven barn fires in Manitoba killed More than 30,000 hogs in 2008, eight times More than in 2007. By Bartley Kives heritage experts want it protected a _ 03_ Jan 02 09. Ind a3 1 / 1/ 09 10 40 18 pm ;