Sudbury miners picked up several individual awards at the Ontario Mine Rescue competition in Thunder Bay last week, but the title of best mine rescue team in Ontario for 2024 went to Kirkland Lake’s Agnico Eagle Macassa Mine.
The annual provincial mine rescue competitions concluded at the awards ceremony on June 7, after mine rescue volunteers across Ontario competed at the provincial championship in Thunder Bay, said a news release from Workplace Safety North, which oversees the competition.
Out of eight teams, it was announced during the awards ceremony that Agnico Eagle’s Macassa Mine came out on top – the first provincial victory for the Kirkland Lake mine since 1986, said the WSN news release.
The individual technician competition was won by Dan Rioux, Glencore Sudbury INO Fraser and Nickel Rim South Mines, while Nick Fram of Vale Sudbury West Mines, took third. The Team Theory Exam Award went to Glencore Sudbury INO.
Every year, mine rescue competitions evaluate mine rescue volunteers on an essential set of emergency response skills, from firefighting to first aid, through both live-action scenarios and a written theory test.
This year’s provincial competition saw a scenario that began with a motor vehicle collision (MVC), which tested their proficiency with hydraulic rescue tools and first-aid treatment.
Each of the eight teams in the competition was presented with the same scenario over a period of two days. The teams were judged on their ability to assess the problem and execute solutions over a given time period.
After safely extricating two casualties from the vehicles, teams navigated their way through a complex simulated mine to secure the location of a fire that had already been quelled by a foam generator. At this section, the most challenging part of the underground scenario began, as teams discovered smoke fuming from a vent. Observation skills were key as they searched for clues in dark, smokey conditions to locate and extinguish the mystery fire, said the release.
“We’re happy to announce that all teams completed the problem safely and successfully,” said Shawn Rideout, Ontario'sChief Mine Rescue Officer, at the awards ceremony.
“There is only one winner, but in a sense, all volunteers have won something — they all persevered through the problem, learned from it, and are better first responders because of it. At the end of the day, that’s the goal of mine rescue competitions.”
Members of the Agnico Eagle Macassa Mine champion team are as follows:
- Captain Nicholas Perrier.
- No. 2 Jackson Lafrance.
- No. 3 Jean-Francois Racine.
- No. 4 Denis Dion.
- Vice Captain Hubert Gour.
- No. 6 Carlie Dewar.
- No. 7 Colin Price.
- Briefing Officer April Belecque.
- Coaches: Jonathan Boutin and Cliff McGill.
- Mine Rescue Officers: Nick Schwehr and Shawn Shail.
- The runner up team was the Lake Shore Gold Timmins West / Bell Creek Mines team.
Rounding out the Individual Technician Competition and team awards were as follows:
- 2nd – Kyle Oullette, Alamos Island Gold Mine.
- Team Special Equipment Award – Canadian Gypsum Corporation Hagersville Mine.
- Team First Aid Award – Lake Shore Gold Timmins.
- Team Firefighting Award – Lake Shore Gold Timmins.
- Briefing Officer Award – Tyler Williams, Lake Shore Gold Timmins..
