The SVRSS Tigers Basketball Senior Boys’ and Senior Girls’ teams hosted teams from four other schools during the Pizza Place Invitational Basketball Tournament held on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 19-20)...

One of the changes in the automotive landscape in recent years is the increasing prevalence and push to convert to Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs), Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEVs) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs).
While vehicles designed to move from electric power instead of an Internal Combustion Engine come with many benefits, there are new challenges as well, one of which being the large battery often holding 10s of kilowatts-hours made out of components like lithium metal that pose a unique fire hazard, especially for emergency responders who are having to learn how to deal with new dangerous situations.
On Dec. 10, several Swan Valley Fire Department (SVFD) firefighters along with firefighters from Benito, Minitonas, Birch River, Barrows, Winnipegosis and The Pas attended an Electric Vehicle (EV) extrication and fire suppression information session hosted by the Swan Valley Mutual Aid District.
“Kevin Patterson, from the Banff Fire Department, presented the most current information on how to extricate occupants safely and effectively from EVs, along with several extinguishing methods for EV battery fires,” said SVFD Captain Kurt Rewerts. “He also helped dispel many common misconceptions about working with EVs.
“As part of the presentation, Patterson presented both in class and utilized a cutaway Tesla Model X car, split down the middle, showing what a normal EV looks like on one side and the unique electrical components, safety systems and major potential risks of EVs on the other side.
“This hands-on presentation gave firefighters an excellent vantage point to view some of the additional reinforcements located in the A-posts that would be undetectable behind the vehicle’s interior trim. It also served as an excellent reminder to firefighters providing vehicle extrication to disable the power system and ‘peel and peek’ before cutting into a vehicle. There are many safety airbags discretely located in many spots within the vehicle, all of which pose a significant risk during extrication operations for both the vehicle occupants and first responders.”
Rewerts noted how it came as a surprise to himself and others that the battery packs in these vehicles are made of several thousand – between 7,100 and 8,500 – lithium-ion batteries not much larger than a household AA. The pack of batteries is located deep within the floor of the vehicle and surrounded with a highly reinforced frame and skid plate to prevent damage from normal daily usage.
“The issue for firefighters in the event of a battery fire comes from a motor vehicle collision or hitting the ditch filled with large stones that may potentially damage the cell pack,” said Rewerts. “Even if one of the battery cells becomes compromised, it may self-ignite and start a chain reaction within the battery cell pack. During the fire suppression portion of the presentation, it quickly became clear that a battery fire in an EV will be a major event, involving significant amounts of water and time on scene.”
The last 10 years has had a dramatic rise of EVs in North America. In 2021, roughly 86,000 were registered in Canada alone.
“There are many advances in tools and methods to assist in extrication and fire suppression involving EVs,” said Rewerts. “However, currently there is no one new tool or method that a department has to quickly extinguish a battery fire. The SVFD and surrounding fire departments are very capable in conducting extrication and fire suppression on all vehicles. This course was another incredible tool for the firefighters to use on scene.”
SVFD Fire Chief Darren Fedorchuk added that the member municipalities of the Town of Swan River and the Municipality of Swan Valley West have been very supportive of their local fire departments.
“The SVFD is a very well equipped and highly trained department, and we continue to be proactive in advancing our tools and skills to ensure we provide the most efficient and effective service to the Valley and to support our surrounding fire departments,” he said.
“EVs are new and require special considerations such as the location of the battery cell and requiring large amounts of water. The water supply on two pumper trucks currently may not be adequate to provide complete extinguishment, especially if the incident originates outside of Town limits (with no fire hydrant accessible). The SVFD does have supports in place from Mutual Aid and local water suppliers to assist in the event additional water is required. There may come a time when a water tanker truck may be required to assist with these specialized fires and other events where large amounts of water are needed.”
How can firefighters work with Electric Vehicles
The first issue firefighters have to do when arriving at a scene of a vehicle incident is determining whether a vehicle is gas/diesel, hybrid or electric, as many manufacturers use very similar chassis/body with just different internals.
“On the side of the road, there are only a few different ways to tell if you’re dealing with an EV and that is an electrical port on the front corner, whether or not there is a gas door, or unique decals,” said Rewerts.
Due to the battery pack being located on the underside of the vehicle, fire crews have limited access to get water to the cells to cool and extinguish, and using foam to cool and smother isn’t effective on lithium-ion batteries fires either.
“Even once the fire is out, fire crews will need to provide a fire watch for several hours after the incident to ensure no other batteries have been compromised and no re-ignition of fire,” said Rewerts.
“Typically, an EV fire burns at roughly 5,000F – or 2,760C – while a gasoline engine vehicle fire burns at 1,500F or 815C. There is also a much more highly toxic, carcinogenic smoke as a result of off-gassing from a battery cell.”
Rewerts added that the danger of a battery fire means that procedure of controlling the scene would be adjusted.
Often the ultimate solution to control an EV battery fire is to either let itself burn out if there are no other exposure risks, or constantly apply water for several hours. Either method comes with the risk of air pollution or water pollution as well.
Fire crews would also need to work with secondary responders such as tow trucks to ensure that batteries do no re-ignite after they are removed from the scene, stored securely and monitored.
“The big question for many firefighters from this course is ‘How can I cut up the car without electrocuting myself?’,” said Rewerts. “To date, no firefighter has been electrocuted while conducting extrication or fire suppression of an EV. Extrication of occupants is similar to gas engine vehicles, but emergency staff must be extra vigilant isolating the battery and drive system of an EV and ensure proper extrication practices are used.
“Manufacturers of EVs have added several safety features to allow emergency crews to quickly disable batteries and drive systems of their vehicles. This in turn allows first responders to quickly extricate occupants. Manufacturers are also providing First Responder Rescue sheets for EVs which can be found on their website or emergency responder apps.”
The SVFD has not yet dealt with an EV fire directly, but expect they will account for a very small percentage of the car fires in the Swan Valley.
“EV technology is advancing at a light speed pace and first responders have the daunting task of continually upgrading their education and skills to ensure up-to-date, safe, efficient and effective services are provided to the public and themselves,” Rewerts concluded.

Another successful Eisner Xmas Stash and Dash event saw crowds of hundreds driving around Swan River frantically attempting to crack the always clever puzzles of Jason Eisner and his family, in search of one of 11 prizes over three evenings (Dec. 18-20) totalling approximately $10,000 in donated products from the local business community.

Multiple homes in Swan River have been shuttered in the last month due to reported health and safety violations, which has forced the people living there to be abruptly evicted with a questionable future of where they are going to be able to live next.
One such resident was Brenda Cook, who was living in the white house at the corner of First Street South and Seventh Avenue South before she and everyone else in the building were unceremoniously told to leave following an investigation from Manitoba Justice that determined the house was an unsuitable habitation.
Cook was one of three people on the lease for the rental property, all three paying $500 each every month. Some of the people living there with her were her adult children and her niece.
“When I stayed in there I fixed that place up with my son Matthew helping me,” said Cook. “I had a group of friends that were helping me with everything, food, blankets, dishes.”
When Cook was told to leave, she was given 20 minutes to gather what she could and leave. Most of her belongings were left behind.
“I only took the jackets, the socks, the sweaters, my blanket and my pillow,” said Cook, noting she didn’t even take the blankets of her children.
“I went to my cousin’s because I feel safe with her. But I don’t really like staying there because there’s no heat or running water.”
Cook added that on the night after they got evicted, people were walking around all night and she was worried somebody would freeze. The night following the eviction on Nov. 23 was one of the coldest overnight periods in the last month.
“I even kind of forgot I was evicted because I said to (my son) Matthew, I just want to go home,” she said. “Oh wait, we don’t even have a home.”
Cook has struggled with addiction and substance abuse since 1999, but said she has been clean for three years now.
“I was using because of my common law husband running in and out with other women,” she said. “I started drinking.
“When he started leaving me longer and longer, I started using bad. And my mother taught me how to use these drugs. I was getting them from her.”
While she has since learned how to budget the disability cheque she does get, when she was living on harder times while in Brandon, she would stand on the street corner and sell herself to get by.
“I did everything for drugs and money and alcohol just to get by,” said Cook.
Cook also mentioned that her childhood wasn’t easy as well, having to take care of her parents and her brothers and sisters when she was only six years old because her parents were busy drinking every night.
“I blame my dad for my mom’s death because she got cancer from second-hand smoke and my mom wasn’t a smoker,” said Cook.
Cook had her first child when she was only 12 years old and more after that. However, she did end up pursuing an education and achieved her certification in Early Childhood Education Level 2.
“I wanted to work in Wuskwi Sipihk and wanted to become a homemaker there,” she said. “I can still have a job there, but I don’t have a way to get there.”
Though there were only three people on the lease for the White House, several others lived there and many more were present at the time the Department of Health did their inspection.
But, Cook insisted that the home was a safe and welcoming place.
“People thought we were cooking drugs in this house and I was thinking, ‘What? Come look around the house and check for yourself,’” she said. “(I would tell them) ‘If you think that’s what’s going on here, I don’t want you to come back.’”
Cook added that her son Matthew had to resort to throwing people out a couple of times.
Cook also noted her efforts to maintain the property, mowing the lawn and doing her best to fix windows that were broken, always being as resourceful as she could be.
The house was one of the places she could feel safe. While she generally isn’t bothered having to walk around Swan River, Cook explained how she has been harassed by others in town before and feared for her safety, having to defend herself.
One of the local blessings was having Meet Off Main when it was still funded and open, as it helped feed everyone.
“It helped a lot,” said Cook. “On weekends I had to cook for these people that come in and out to eat. I’d make bannock and soup, coffee and tea. We were trying to help each other.”
Despite hot meals no longer being on the menu, she added that the current CMHA supports in their new facility on Seventh Avenue North are good as well.
It remains to be seen what solutions will come for Swan River residents with vulnerable housing situations.

Houses in Swan River where some of the area’s most vulnerable persons resided have been emptied and boarded up, beginning with the ‘White House’ on the corner of Seventh Avenue South and First Street South that was closed on Nov. 23, followed by a home on Duncan Crescent that was closed on Nov. 30.
The closure of the White House followed an investigation under the provincial legislation Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act, which allows several confidential complaints to trigger an investigation and permit relevant authorities to enter the property.
“In response to a confidential complain, Manitoba Justice Public Safety Officers visited the residence accompanied by representatives of the Swan Valley Fire Department and Public Health,” said a Manitoba government spokesperson. “Based on the conditions observed, and as a result of numerous safety and health violations, it was determined that the residence was uninhabitable and required to be closed down immediately. Given the significant safety concerns, Public Health issued a health hazard order and residents were given some time to pack up their things, but were told they had to leave almost immediately.”
At the time of the investigation, eight individuals appeared to reside in the home, but there were at least 15 occupants there at the time of the inspection and everyone was asked to leave due to the conditions observed.
Swan Valley Fire Department acting Fire Chief Darren Fedorchuk attended the property as part of the investigation, and also issued an order to close under the provisions of the provincial Fire Prevention and Emergency Response Act.
If the property owner chooses to improve the property to a reasonable standard, both Manitoba Justice and the Office of the Fire Commissioner will have to be satisfied by inspection.
“Because of the life safety issues in (the house), we had to close it and board it up,” said Fedorchuk. “If the owner of the property wanted to appeal, they would appeal to the Fire Commissioner.”
While Fedorchuk couldn’t explain specific details, he did outline the life safety hazards with lack of smoke detectors, egress issues with blocked doors and lack of exit windows in some bedrooms, electrical issues, among other issues.
“There were some general fire safety things where we’d be looking at fatalities (in a serious fire emergency),” he said.
Fedorchuk also explained that the property was also tested according to a commercial standard because it was being operated as a rental property, despite being zoned and built as residential. He explaind this is common when it comes to rental properties.
Fedorchuk also noted that while the property did violate some of the Town’s bylaws, many of the infractions coincided with existing provincial legislation and were incidental to the investigation and actions taken.
The home on the south end of Duncan Crescent was boarded up under an order from Manitoba Public Health, and Fedorchuk said he was asked to board it up because people continued to enter the property after being evicted.
“We initially got the rerport that (the house) had no water or heat, and that automatically triggers an occupancy issue,” said Fedorchuk, noting that there have been some other developments going on with it since, but isn’t aware of all the details.
For more details on some of the people that have been affected by these evictions, see next week’s edition of the Star and Times.

The Brick Ltd. started its story as The Brick Warehouse LP in Edmonton, Alta., in 1971, eventually growing into the national retailer of furniture, mattresses, appliances and home electronics that it is today.
With a reputation for having large retail spaces in urban centres, Lance Jacobson didn’t expect that it was even an option to open up a Brick franchise in Swan River, which has had its footprint and iconic Vermillion Red logo in Swan River for 10 years now.
Jacobson was the manager of the Sears store that existed in the same location at 619 Main Street East, before it abruptly closed amongst the company-wide shuttering of retail locations across the country in the last decade leading up to the company’s bankruptcy.
“With Sears, of course it was a whole different business that focused more on catalog sales,” he said. “We had a mix of major appliances, some beds and some lawn and garden. It really was limited to what we could have and sell inside that store.”
When the local Sears store closed, Jacobson asked around amongst his Sears colleagues and he discovered that the manager in Humboldt had opened up a Brick franchise instead.
“I called up my friend in Humboldt and he said that if we don’t have a Sears anymore, that I’d be interested in this,” said Jacobson.
“It’s completely night and day as far as operations go. In the Sears stores, you didn’t own them and were more of a dealer. You didn’t have much flexibility or opportunity to grow. Here (at The Brick), you own it and it opened up a lot of different avenues for us to explore and to grow.
“When we went through the process of applying for a franchise, back in those days it was a little simpler than it is today,” Jacobson continued. “We were very lucky and we had a chance to meet with the Senior Vice President. He came here twice to Swan River: once when he assessed the building and who we were, and then he came for the grand opening as well.”
The Brick operates both corporate-owned and franchised locations. The Brick in Swan River represents one of about 20 franchise locations out of the more than 200 retail stores that The Brick operates across Canada.
Jacobson sees owning a Brick franchise as a natural progression in his career.
“Before managing the Sears dealer store with Neil Scales for almost 13 years, I worked at the Co-op furniture department for 13 years,” he said.
“Those early days working at the Co-op were the learning days – learning about the business, product and customers. Then the Sears days were about learning a management role and building a customer base. And, now owning The Brick is about being franchise owners.
“Of course, we’re not just franchise owners,” Jacobson continued. “We do the accounting, sell merchandise and take care of the customer from start to finish. We even do most of the deliveries.”
Jacobson added that he enjoys doing many of those jobs from start to finish because he is invested in making sure the customer experience goes the way it should, or can make things right when something doesn’t go the way it should.
“In smaller towns, we focus more on customer service because everybody knows you,” said Jacobson, who is a business owner with even more local visibility due to his role as an elected figure in Swan River. “If people have issues, you deal with them the best that you possibly can.”
The furniture and home furnishings industry has also gone through some major changes, not just in the time since Jacobson started selling furniture at the Swan Valley Consumers Co-op in 1988, but also even just in the last few years.
“When I started, everything was pretty much manual as far as inventory systems and POS and payment,” he said. “Eventually, Internet was a big part of everyone’s life and way to communicate.
“In time, Internet expanded, companies had websites and then had the option to buy online and so much more. This definitely has had the largest impact of consumer shopping and spending today.”
In Jacobson’s early retail days, cheque and cash was the norm, whereas today, most transactions are done through debit, credit or even e-transfer. And, through using the in-store Flexiti credit card, so many purchases can be financed now as well.
“Now, we pretty much can’t do business without Internet, including POS and inventory control,” he said.
“But no matter how one will shop, online or in person in our store, we continue to make our personal connection and the experience the best it can be.”
One other thing that has changed in just the last few years is where product is manufactured. Jacobson said that much of the industry had shifted towards imported products from overseas versus the domestic manufacturing the way it used to be more than 30 years ago.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how vulnerable the supply chain is with the shutdown of foreign manufacturing and logistics, which made companies realize that a shift towards more domestic products might be a good move, which also resulted in more expensive price tags as cost of inputs and labour went up.
While Jacobson said he’s not the kind of guy to often toot his own horn, he did share some praise and positive comments that he has received during the last 10 years a Brick franchisee.
“In the first few years, we had people in Flin Flon who would stop our truck and ask if there was a Brick store in Swan River,” said Jacobson, adding that people were very excited to stop by.
Jacobson has also received compliments and praise from other people from The Brick family in other locations.
“Overall, I appreciate the customers that support us,” said Jacobson. “We have a lot of different partners that we’ve grown a lot of different relationships with and we appreciate every single one of them. And, we also value the employees that we have.”
Jacobson has run The Brick with his wife, Coralie, for the entire 10 years, and one of his employees, Ashley Eggie, has also worked alongside the two of them for the entire 10 years, as well as the other valued employees and friendly faces that people interact with at The Brick, whether it’s people on the sales floor or people helping deliver purchases.
“I appreciate all the people that support us and I welcome those that have not yet walked in our door,” Jacobson concluded. “We will treat you as good as we possibly can with the best prices that we can.”

Eighteen teams from Swan River and Norquay competed at the Swan River Community Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday (Nov. 7 and 8) in the Swan River Senior Curling Club’s Senior Bonspiel. The winner – decided by their bonspiel winnings – was the Orest Nimetz rink, playing with Brent Scales, Kelly Tibble and Orest Woloshyn. Second place went to Barry Tall’s rink with Dennis and Peggy Kalynuk, Theresa McKay and Carol Fahrenschon. A close third went to Dave Bettesworth’s rink with Miles Granfield, Dale Jersak and Dwayne Strate...