Mine rescue teams across Ontario, including those in Timmins and Kirkland Lake districts, will mark the 90th anniversary of Ontario Mine Rescue by testing their emergency response skills and knowledge in district mine rescue competitions May 7-9.
Seven teams from Timmins and Kirkland Lake District will compete at the Archie Dillon Sportsplex in Timmins on Wednesday, May 8, and Thursday, May 9.
Competing will be:
- Kirkland Lake Gold, Holt McDermott Mine
- Kirkland Lake Gold, Macassa Mine
- Alamos Gold, Young-Davidson Mine
- McEwen Mining, Black Fox Mine
- Tahoe Canada, Timmins West/Bell Creek Mine
- Glencore, Kidd Operations
- Newmont Goldcorp, Porcupine Gold Mines
The equipment technician competition will be held Tuesday, May 7, at Northern College for Timmins District technicians, and at the Kirkland Lake Mine Rescue Substation for Kirkland Lake District technicians.
Ontario Mine Rescue was established in 1929, a year after an underground fire at the Hollinger Mine in Timmins claimed the lives of 39 miners.
Over the ensuing years, OMR has evolved from a fire service to full emergency response service for all underground emergencies.
The competitions organized by Ontario Mine Rescue, a part of Workplace Safety North, will test the teams’ knowledge, firefighting skills, first aid response, use of emergency equipment, and decision-making ability under stress in a simulated underground emergency.
Other competitions will take place across Ontario on the same dates:
- Southern District – Goderich Memorial Arena, Goderich
- Sudbury & Onaping districts – McClelland Community Centre, Copper Cliff
- Red Lake & Thunder Bay districts – Cochenour Arena, Red Lake
- Algoma District – Michipicoten Memorial Community Centre, Wawa
The winner of each district competition will compete in the 2019 Provincial Mine Rescue Competition, June 4 to 7, at Newmont Goldcorp’s Red Lake Gold Mines in Red Lake.
