It may already be too late to save anyone trapped in roof collapse of the building in the Elliot Lake mall, but rescue attempts have been less than gallant.
Appalling, even.
SLIDESHOW: ELLIOT LAKE MALL COLLAPSE
Even when there was evidence that one or two were alive in the wreckage -- with about 30 people unaccounted for -- decisions were made that conditions were too dangerous for rescuers to attempt anything.
Barely 48 hours after the collapse, rescue efforts were called off -- until Premier Dalton McGuinty intervened and locals vehemently protested.
Good lord! Don't the Emergency Measures people know that rescuers are supposed to risk their lives to save others? Quitting because of danger is like soldiers refusing to fight for fear they might be hurt. One only has to look at various mine disasters around the world -- including the Springhill coal mine disasters in Nova Scotia some 50 years ago -- for examples of heroism by miners risking their lives to save others.
For rescuers to quit, pleading danger to themselves is unseemly. If there'd been a call for volunteers, there'd have been no shortage of applicants in Elliot Lake. They just wouldn't have had the training and expertise of EMO professionals.
Every time there's a serious fire, there's never a shortage of fire fighters who'll risk everything to save victims.
Anyway, we weren't there, so it's perhaps unfair to judge too harshly the reluctance of rescuers to take chances in Elliot Lake.
It's fair to say that post mortems on this roof collapse will be controversial.
Already there are reports of the building's roof leaking for years, and being examined and judged safe for occupants. The roof collapse was an inevitability waiting to happen.
Isn't it interesting that we in Toronto are faced with something mildly similar, with chunks of the Gardiner Expressway periodically falling onto moving cars. Work crews try to repair the damage when concrete falls down, but one has to wonder if someday whole sections of the overpass will crash down on motorists?
Suppose we have a rare earthquake, as in Oakland, California during a World Series baseball playoff? Would the Gardiner Expressway collapse?
Some want the Gardiner torn done, to give better access to the lake front. That ain't going to happen -- can't happen, if one considers the traffic tie up that would prevent commuters entering and leaving the city in an orderly way.
So the band-aid approach will continue.
None of this is consolation for the people of Elliot Lake.
But the reluctance of rescuers to keep at it, is something we've not seen before in Canada or elsewhere. When aircraft disappear over the ocean, or in the north, search and rescue people keep searching long after all reasonable hope has been exhausted. And in a startling number of cases, they find people still alive.
That was the case with the Tsunami-earthquake in Japan, and the earthquake in Haiti. Searching went on long after time had expired and people were found alive.
The Elliot Lake roof collapse occurred Saturday afternoon, and on Monday rescue attempts were officially called off -- until the Premier decreed otherwise.
Even if conditions were too dangerous for rescuers, they should have explored alternatives. Frankly, it's hard to understand why anyone would quit when it was known (or believed) victims were still alive in the wreckage.
Not a very commendable moment.
ELLIOT LAKE MALL COLLAPSE
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Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, left, greets people of the community of Elliot lake after speaking at a press conference regarding the rescue and recovery of two bodies at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont., on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, after the mall's roof collapse last Saturday. During his address to a small crowd of rescue workers and local officials, McGuinty said his thoughts were with the family of the two female victims, whom he identified as Dolores and Lucie.
The Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario, remains unstable as efforts continue on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, after the mall's roof collapse last Saturday. Officials recovered two bodies after dismantling a piece of a partially collapsed Ontario shopping mall on Wednesday and said they are confident no other victims are inside. The renewed rescue effort came after angry residents shouted down fears that the unstable structure made the work too risky to continue.
Firefighters, left, carry a second body out of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario, Canada, on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, after the mall's roof collapsed last Saturday. Officials recovered two bodies after dismantling a partially collapsed Ontario mall on Wednesday and said they don
Rescue workers remove their hard hats as firefighters carry a second body out of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont., on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, after the mall's roof collapsed last Saturday.
Local residents react to the news that rescue workers have recovered a body at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont., on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, after the mall's roof collapse last Saturday.
Rescue workers wait to access the wreckage of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont., early Wednesday, June 27, 2012, as cranes remove debris caused by the mall's roof collapsed last Saturday.
Rescue workers watch as a demolition crane tears into part of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario on Tuesday June 26, 2012. The controlled demolition on Tuesday night was part of a renewed bid to rescue any survivors. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
A monument stands at a road entrance as a demolition crane tears into the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario on Tuesday June 26, 2012. Rescue workers are attempting an new plan to search for survivors after the mall's roof collapsed last Saturday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
A by-stander reacts as a demolition crane tears into part of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario on Tuesday June 26, 2012. Residents of Elliot Lake, Ontario watched tensely as a massive robotic arm dismantled the facade of a mall that collapsed over the weekend, trapping at least two people inside. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Rescue workers watches a demolition crane as it tears into the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario on Tuesday June 26, 2012. Rescue workers are attempting an new plan to search for survivors after the mall's roof collapsed last Saturday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
A rescue workers watches as a demolition crane as it tears into part of the Algo Centre Mall, in Elliot Lake, Ontario on Tuesday June 26, 2012. Rescue crews began dismantling a partially collapsed mall late Tuesday night in this northern Ontario city in an effort to rescue victims despite fading hopes of finding anyone alive. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Local residents react to the news that authorities have called off a rescue bid for any survivors at the site of the collapsed roof of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario, on Monday June 25, 2012 as the site is deemed to dangerous.
OPP officers inspect the damage from the roof as rescue workers continue attempts to secure the building before searching for any survivors at the site of the collapsed roof of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont. on Monday June 25, 2012.
Local residents react to the news that authorities have called off a rescue bid for any survivors at the site of the collapsed roof of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario, on Monday June 25, 2012 as the site is deemed to dangerous.
Missing victim Lucie Aylwin's father Rajean Aylwin (centre left) and boyfriend Gary Gendrom (right) react to the news that authorities have called off a rescue bid for any survivors at the site of the collapsed roof of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario, on Monday June 25, 2012 as the site is deemed to dangerous.
A rescue worker walks towards the emergency staging post as attempts continue to secure the building before searching for any survivors at the site of the collapsed roof of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario on Monday June 25, 2012.
Local residents react to the news that authorities have called off a rescue bid for any survivors at the site of the collapsed roof of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario, on Monday June 25, 2012 as the site is deemed too dangerous.
Police form a line outside the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario on Monday June 25, 2012. According to some residents a large number of miners are due to arrive from Timmins to join a locally planned rescue effort. Officials in Elliot Lake, Ont., say they are resuming rescue efforts at a partially collapsed mall after an appeal from Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.
Police officers talk in front of a emergency services tent next to the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario on Sunday June 24, 2012.
A man leans on a columns next to the collapsed roof of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont. on Saturday June 23, 2012.
A man leans on a column next to the collapsed roof at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont. on Saturday June 23, 2012.
A teddy bear with a handwritten note is seen near the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont. on Sunday June 24, 2012.
A woman checks out the damage after a roof collapsed at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont., Saturday, June 23, 2012. The partial collapse prompted a local state of emergency and a search for anyone who might have been injured in the cave-in.
The roof parking lot of the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont. is shown on Saturday June 23, 2012.
The collapsed roof of the Algo Centre Mall is seen from a nearby hill in Elliot Lake, Ont. on Sunday June 24, 2012.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLsIqo5aKr8&feature=player_embedded" target="_hplink">Source: YouTube</a>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLsIqo5aKr8&feature=player_embedded" target="_hplink">Source: YouTube</a>
Heavy equipment is used in stabilization and rescue efforts at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ont. on Sunday June 24, 2012.
Elliot Lake -- once an Ontario mining hub -- is located about 160 kilometres west of Sudbury.
That whole roof is ready to collapse. I would not have gone in there for love nor money. I am not altruistic enough to swap my life, if I’m given a chance to think first.
Google-Earth-It and I will explain.
The black lines, on the roof, are an indication that there is something rotten going on. Do you see the very black lines? That’s where the roof let go.
It did not have to. This is what the architects and engineers did. They transitioned the orientation of the roof slabs at this point from latitudinal to longitudinal, and they supported, it looks like 8 slabs with one I-Beam, foolishly at the most stress part of the roof. There was no fail-safe. Add some 30 years of the owners neglect and the rust that never sleeps, did its job. The rest of the roof is just a matter of time.
A criminal trial for the owners, the architects and engineers will be the only closure for the families. I am very sorry for there loss.
1. School funding cuts? Yet our schools still manage to pay $143 to install a pencil sharpener, $3,000 for an electrical outlet and now $250,000 for TigerDirect gift cards. I wish I could have budget worries like that.
2. Health care cuts? How much was wasted by eHealth or Ornge?
There's actually lots of money to go around...we need to take a better look at how that money is being spent.
As for Elliot Lake, the first responders were largely volunteers who hadn't been trained to deal with such an overwhelming catastrophe. Help should have been sought immediately and a highly skilled disaster emergency response team should be able to arrive within 24 hours in a case such as this.
This tragedy is only compounded by the fact that one or both of these ladies may have survived the initial collapse. Can you imagine surviving such a thing - thinking that surely you will be saved and it's only a matter of time - and then no one comes? And this didn't happen in some remote, third world country or an island entirely ravaged by a tsunami. This happened in Canada, at a mall. With plenty of equipment and trained personnel (relatively) nearby.
Such a tragedy.
This article is an insult to the rescue workers (indeed to rescue workers everywhere) and can only serve to deepen the pain of those affected by the tragedy.
And Mr. McGuinty pressed for a continued rescue effort by rushing proper equipment to the scene, not by asking more people to become casualties.
There is acceptable risk that rescuers will face. What they will not is extreme folly, such as this disaster scene would have put them in.
Please, Peter, never offer to lead men.
Maybe some investigative reporter could find out?
my hands are just vibrating
I just can't believe a man of his experiance could be so callous as to question the 'heart' of these responders.
Just can't believe it.
I am also irate after reading this slop.
Nobody needs Peter Worthington's opinion.
8 are paid members whereas 25 are volunteers.
So I would invite Mr Worthington to go to Elliot Lake and tune the boys in.
Maybe they just didn't read the SOG's
Gonna take me up on that Pete?
That's one true statement in the article, anyway.
What is the most dangerous thing Peter Worthington has ever done?
"Anyway, we weren't there, so it's perhaps unfair to judge too harshly the reluctance of rescuers to take chances in Elliot Lake."
Wow, you aren't completely clueless. Now you can ask yourself the most obvious question...
Did the rescuers stop because it was too dangerous or were they told to stop because it was to dangerous?
"Anyway, we weren't there, so it's perhaps unfair to judge too harshly the reluctance of rescuers to take chances in Elliot Lake." - then why have a headline that judges fairly harshly?
But that explains some things...
The mall owner of that death trap that are getting off lightly by the press. It wasn't a fire fighter or rescue worker who killed the citizens. It was negligence on the part of the mall owner. If he had of been doing HIS job people would not have died.