More than 29,000 pounds of scrap metal was removed from the Postill Lake Road area on May 9 by Okanagan Forest Task Force (OFTF) volunteers.
According to organizer Kane Blake, 29,100 pounds of scrap metal is the largest scrap removal from the bush since the group was founded in 2016.
However, the group, which included children, was not only charged with cleaning up old vehicles, drywall, household rubbish and grenades, but there was another incident that needed to be addressed.
According to Blake, being safe on forest roads can be a problem and a problem emerged on Saturday.
“There was an incident with a car that flew down Postill. The witnesses I spoke to thought it was traveling at 90 or 100 km / h and it hit the ditch and blew up. We had to call RCMP and paramedics, ”Blake explained. “They weren’t in our group, we think some kids were camping in the area.”
The Kelowna RCMP said they arrived at the scene and discovered a Mitsubishi Lancer went off the street into the brush and landed on its roof. The two adult male inmates were rushed to the hospital and the driver was issued a careless ticket.
“It is believed that speed was a factor in the collision,” said Cpl. Jocelyn Noseworthy.
There were signs in the area warning drivers to slow down during the cleanup.
“Overall, it’s been a bad day,” said Blake. “We had a great choice, it was a wonderful day. We had families, friends and children with us. Some of the children picked up grenades at the shooting range. “
Several local companies such as GFL, K-Town Customs and Sunbelt Rentals donated trash cans and bobcats to facilitate the cleanup.
The Central Okanagan’s Waste Reduction Team waved the tip fees for the trash cans and provided gloves and garbage bags to volunteers.
Volunteers decided to clean up the Postill Lake Road area after Blake noticed an influx of illegal dumping into the bush.
The task force’s goal is simply to keep forests clean and to raise public awareness of the problem of illegal dumping in local forest areas.
@ Jen_zee
jen.zielinski@bpdigital.ca
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Garbage disposal
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