Up to the great white north

By Steph Crosier

The mayor and fire chief of Quinte West are going on a trip, but they’d better bring their coats.

Quinte West Mayor John Williams, Fire Chief John Whalen, and Hon. Col. Armin Quickert have been invited by CFB Trenton base commander Col. Sean Friday to fly north to CFS Alert. They are travelling to the remote base for a change of command, to deliver a fire truck, and to tour the base.

Williams is excited to go because they are flying in a C-17 Globemaster, a huge cargo plane that is not often flown to Alert. Usually the smaller C-130 Hercules is flown to the remote base.

“It’s going to be a different trip because of the plane,” said Williams in an interview. “And it’s going to be complete darkness, it’ll be a change to see how things work.”

CFS Alert is the most northern permanently inhabited settlement in the world, only 817 kilometers from the North Pole.

Williams was also happy to see the great the good relationship between the CFB Trenton and the community.

“It’s a good opportunity to go up,” said Williams

Their flight leaves Tuesday night and returns Wednesday night.