Kelowna Curling Club must replace chiller after Fernie ammonia tragedy

KELOWNA – The ice chiller in the Kelowna Curling Club is facing a mandatory replacement order after the tragedy in Fernie, B.C. that saw three men die when they were overcome by ammonia fumes at the town’s arena.

“It’s not leaking or anything, this is a proactive measure because the unit is over 20 years old,” City of Kelowna building services Martin Johansen said.

The curling club is asking the city for a $150,000 loan to pay for the replacement, a requirement of Technical Safety B.C. and Worksafe B.C.

The chiller was found to be beyond its technical service life and ordered removed. Johansen said the facility will not be able to reopen as a curling club without replacing the chiller.

“The curling club has to change out the chiller before they turn the plant back on. That needs to get done,” he added.

No other city properties are affected, Johansen said.

“They put a life cycle limit of 20 years and all our machines are under that age,” he added.

In October, 2017, three men working on an ammonia cooling system were overcome and killed by fumes from a leak inside the Fernie arena.

Both the Rutland and Memorial arenas use ammonia cooling systems, as does the Capital News Centre and Prospera Place.

West Kelowna uses ammonia systems at both Royal LePage Place and Jim Lind Arena.

Johansen said there are other ammonia chillers in use at private companies such as fruit packinghouses and cold storage facilities.

Besides the loan for the chiller, the curling club is asking for another $150,000 towards replacement of the roof of the facility, built on city land in 1978.

The club wants the city to support its application to the B.C. Lottery Corporation for community gaming grant of $150,000 to pay for the other half of the $300,000 needed for the roof.

Technical Safety B.C. did not respond to a request for an interview in time to be included in this story.

Kelowna council will consider the loan request at its regular meeting, 1:30 p.m. June 11, in Kelowna city hall.

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