10 years ago

Assembly member injured in boat fire (Oct. 2, 2014)

Haines Borough Assembly member George Campbell is “fine” and will likely return to town early next week after treatment at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for burns on his face and arms suffered in a boat fire Sept. 26.

“He’s doing as good as he can be,” wife Lynette Campbell said in an interview this week. Her husband was at Kelsall landing, fueling his jetboat around 4 p.m. in advance of moose hunting when the accident occurred. A spark from an electronic bilge pump apparently touched off gasoline vapors, leading to a fire inside and outside the boat, she said.

George put out the flames with a fire extinguisher while on fire himself, his wife said. Some of his most severe burns resulted from the melting of a polar fleece jacket onto his arm. He received excellent care, as his companions included a nurse and an EMT, she said.

He was released from Harborview Sept. 27.

George already is talking about changing the design of the boat that has a jet outboard engine, his wife said. Her husband is very safety conscious, she said. “It was kind of a perfect storm of conditions.”

Borough fireman Al Badgley said fire is a potential hazard aboard boats, some of which have blowers to expel fumes. “Any potential spark with fuel vapors can start a fire,” especially when gasoline is used. However, diesel also can be volatile in certain conditions, Badgley said.

25 years ago

School district pays labor settlement (Oct. 7, 1999)

The Haines Borough School District recently paid about $1,700 to three employees after a complaint was made to the federal Department of Labor. 

Superintendent Ron Erickson said the classified employees were not paid according to federal overtime laws. “It was an accounting oversight in two cases. In the other, it was partly due to an employee not filling out a timesheet correctly. 

The DOL took no action against the district, which has since instructed workers about the regulations, Erickson said. 

“It was not deliberate. We’re not trying to screw our employees. We had all the hours on the time cards.” 

In this Sept. 23, 1999 file photo Chief engineer Harald Hansen shows outflow pipes now padlocked to prevent illegal dumping to KHNS reporter Dave Reimer during Tuesday’s tour of the Rhapsody of the Seas. (File photo/Chilkat Valley News)
In this Sept. 23,1999 file photo Carmen DeFranco uses fly-fishing gear to angle for chum salmon near the Haines airport recently. Although most of the half-dozen sportsfishermen had their hopes set on silver salmon, a strong fall dog run provided frequent bites. (File photo/Chilkat Valley News)

50ish years ago

City Council accepts Police Chief Gould’s resignation (Oct. 10, 1974) 

Events have moved rapidly in the past two weeks, and the City of Haines finds itself with no permanent police chief nor permanent superintendent of maintenance. 

This evening (Thursday), the city council accepted a letter of resignation from Police Chief George Gould. Last week, a newly appointed superintendent of maintenance arrived in town one day and departed the next after turning in his resignation. 

The city council, at a regular meeting Monday, decided that the resignation of Ted Goebel from the posts of harbormaster and dogcatcher included also resignation from his part-time patrolman position, and that he would have to reapply for the patrolman position. 

Also at the Monday meeting, Dan Hale was appointed full-time harbormaster and dog-catcher on a temporary basis until Oct. 21. 

At the Thursday evening meeting, Patrolman John Griswold – who has just returned from a course at the State Troopers’ Academy in Sitka – was named temporary chief of police, and Hale was appointed temporary patrolman. 

Gould told this newspaper that he has accepted employment with Wackenhut Corp., which is responsible for security on the southern half of the trans-Alaska pipeline. 

He said he will be a supervisor in one of seven areas, and will be based in either Fairbanks, Anchorage or Valdez, probably. He will depart Oct. 20. 

In discussing his resignation, the former police chief said he felt there was a lack of cooperation between him and the city council — that there were mutual feelings that some things were not right. He harbors no animosity toward anyone on the council, he said. “They feel one way, I feel another.”

Gould said he felt that with the growth of the community in the past year, the police force should have five full-time members, while the city council has made provision for only two and a half. 

Gould said he attributes the rapid increase in population – with its attendant need for increased police protection – to the effect of the trans-Alaska pipeline. He thinks the community needs to plan farther ahead in providing police protection. He also said that his new position will pay a better salary, but that “money is not the major issue; if it were just a question of money, I’d still be here.” 

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