Mine rescue teams in seven districts across Ontario, including Timmins and Kirkland Lake districts, will test their emergency response knowledge and skills in District Mine Rescue Competitions May 10 to 11.
Seven teams and equipment technicians from the Timmins and Kirkland Lake districts will compete at the Archie Dillion Sportsplex in Timmins.
Representing Timmins District:
- Glencore, Kidd Operations
- Goldcorp, Porcupine Gold Mines
- Tahoe Canada, Timmins West/Bell Creek Mines
Representing Kirkland Lake District:
- Kirkland Lake Gold, Macassa Mine
- Kirkland Lake Gold, Holt McDermott Mine
- Alamos Gold, Young-Davidson Mine
- McEwen Mining, Black Fox Mine
The competition 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.
The public are welcome to attend district and provincial competitions to give communities a chance to see highly trained volunteers in action. Other competitions will take place in:
- Red Lake District – Neebing Arena, Thunder Bay
- Sudbury and Onaping districts – I.J.Coady Memorial Arena, Levack
- Southern District – Caledonia Fairgrounds Arena, Caledonia
- Thunder Bay and Algoma districts – Michipicoten Memorial CC, Wawa
The winner of each district competition will compete in the 2018 provincial competition, taking place June 4 to 8, at Alamos Gold's Young-Davidson Mine in Matachewan, near Kirkland Lake.
Mine rescue competitions, which started in Ontario in 1950, are as much intensive learning opportunities as a chance to test emergency response capabilities. The competitions ensure that mine rescue volunteers across the province are trained to the same high standards.
Mine rescue team members, the backbone of Ontario Mine Rescue, are volunteer mine workers trained by mine rescue officers to respond to all types of mine emergencies, including fires, explosions and falls of ground.
Under the authority of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and headquartered in Sudbury, Mine Rescue staffs, equips and maintains a network of mine rescue stations across the province that ensure mines within a specified geographic area have adequate emergency response capability.
Ontario Mine Rescue is a part of Workplace Safety North, which provides products and services to promote workplace health and safety in the mining, forestry, and paper, printing and converting industries, as well as workplaces across Ontario.
