By Tom Mark

Vernon Arenas Safe

Oct 20, 2017 | 11:11 AM

The City of Vernon isn’t worried about a tragedy similar to what happened in Fernie this week, happening here.

Doug Ross, the city’s Recreational Services Director, says the refrigeration systems in the Vernon ice rinks are all in good working order.

“Absolutely, yeah, everything is as per usual. We do all of these checks on a daily basis and everything with our systems is working as it should.”

The systems are monitored by sensors 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“All the sensors get calibrated on a regular basis and then again the staff are checking on a regular basis, regular intervals every day of the week.”

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Ross says the Fernie tragedy does heighten awareness of safety.

“And although our staff has recently completed an in-service training session, what we’ve done is we’ve already incorporated ammonia safety into our safety talks.”

Ross says the plants all use ammonia and it’s been a very reliable system for a number of years

The city’s facilities are certified annually through Technical Safety BC.

An annual maintenance of them is done in the off season with certified contractors who follow strict protocols to complete the required work.

by Tom Mark