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Major meltdown in Deh Cho

Warm weather wreaks havoc on rinks, but causes few accidents

Derek Neary
Northern News Services


Fort Simpson (Dec 06/02) - An anomalous two-day warm spell left ice practically everywhere except the skating and curling rinks last week.

However, RCMP in Fort Liard and Fort Simpson said no accidents were reported due to slippery roads. Nor were there any fender-benders in Fort Providence.

NNSL Photo

With fans whirring to keep temperatures cooler, Roger Pilling glumly looks over a partially melted sheet of curling ice at the Fort Simpson recreation centre. Mild temperatures plundered ice across the Deh Cho last week. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo


However, a single-vehicle accident on Highway 3 between Fort Providence and Rae killed a Kugluktuk man on Nov. 30. Daniel Harvey was pronounced dead at the scene following a single vehicle rollover. Unfavourable road conditions and the rate of speed were factors in the accident, according to the RCMP.

The warm weather also precipitated a warning from the Department of Transportation that the Liard River ice bridge at Fort Simpson could close, but it remained open to traffic after all.

"(The warning) was just for prudence. It was just in case (the ice) shifted or anything like that," said Les Shaw, the Deh Cho's superintendent of transportation. "At no point did we actually close it."

The tepid temperatures were very detrimental to indoor ice surfaces. At the Fort Simpson curling rink, where curlers opened the season on Nov. 22, league play was cancelled last Friday due to several centimetres of water covering what was left of the curling ice.

"It's not all gone yet," said a philosophical Roger Pilling, who added that more than 40 hours of work had gone into preparing the two sheets. "I think the most frustrating part is that it was looking so nice this year."

The white paint beneath the ice was partially exposed and the blue and red rings were beginning to bleed.

"It's going to be a mess," Pilling predicted.

In the next room, the arena's natural ice surface had also taken a beating.

"It's a puddle. It sets everything back a week," said recreation co-ordinator Peter Dimaline.

After nearly a month of preparations, the arena was set to open Wednesday, Nov. 27, the very day the mercury rose to a record 12 C in Fort Simpson, scuttling the plans.

An extra week's work will also be required on the arena ice in Fort Providence, according to recreation director Cliff McLeod.