Hundreds to Gather for Canadian Paramedics' Memorial

KIMBERLEY, B.C. (CP) - Hundreds and perhaps thousands of emergency response personnel - paramedics, police officers, firefighters and others - will likely gather next week to pay respects to two fallen paramedics who died in the line of duty.

Arrangements were being made Friday to hold a memorial and procession to mark the deaths of the two paramedics - Shawn Currier, 21, and Kim Weitzel, 44 - who died Wednesday along with two others in a freak accident at the legendary but decommissioned Sullivan mine.

''It is still in the planning stage but we are anticipating (next weekend),'' said John Strohmaier, president of the Ambulance Paramedics, a CUPE local.

He and William Chute, the union's public education director, said organizing a memorial and procession is a huge undertaking.

The memorial would resemble the type that the public is familiar with when a police officer or firefighter is killed in the line of duty.

One of the difficulties in organizing such a memorial that would draw emergency services workers from all over North America is that Kimberley is a comparatively small town in an isolated part of the province - the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia.

The nearest airport is in Cranbrook, about a half-hour drive south of Kimberley, where the Civic Centre ice arena is the only venue large enough to accommodate those who attend. A larger arena, home of the Kootenay Ice of the junior Western Hockey League, could be used in Cranbrook, Chute suggested.

The memorial would be the communities' formal way of remembering the two paramedics and two other men who died in the bizarre accident.

The first person to die was Doug Erickson, 48, of nearby Ha Ha Creek, who apparently was discovered dead by Teck mining company employee Robert Newcombe, 49, who called the paramedics.

When they responded, they died along with Newcombe.

There has been speculation that they were overcome by hydrogen sulfide or carbon monoxide.

While it may be several days or weeks before the exact cause of death is determined, several officials said Thursday that initial testing at the site showed there was oxygen deprivation in the enclosed area.

Mines Minister Bill Bennett said air and water samples had been taken from the site and were driven to Vancouver for testing; they could not be flown because they are considered hazardous materials, he said.

Bennett also said a chemist would be hired to conduct other tests at the site, trying to pinpoint the reason for the oxygen deficiency.

The B.C. Coroners Service said preliminary autopsies on all four bodies were completed Thursday.

The final cause of death is pending microscopic and toxicology analysis, which may take weeks to complete.

The tragedy began when Erickson went to test acid-tainted water at a pumping station as part of the mine's reclamation at the start of the week. Newcombe went to look for him Wednesday and found him unconscious and called 911.

Only five paramedics have died on the job since the service took its present form in the early 1970s. Two paramedics died in an air ambulance crash about 10 years ago and another died in a motor vehicle accident.

After the two paramedics died in the air ambulance crash, Strohmaier said several thousand emergency services personnel gathered at an airport hangar at Vancouver International Airport for a memorial. They then marched to a dock alongside the Fraser for a flyby by an aircraft similar to the one that crashed.

Strohmaier and Chute said they expected police officers, firefighters, paramedics, coast guard members, nurses and doctors to attend - as well as ''anyone involved in emergency response.''

''The other thing is that members of the communities of Kimberley and Cranbrook would want to pay their respects,'' said Strohmaier.

Mines minister Bennett also confirmed Friday that Fred Hermann, the province's chief inspector of mines, is leading the investigation into the four deaths.