1971 Man shot to death Brother kills self

A Marysville man shot his brother to death and then killed himself early Sunday morning following a fight between the two bachelors.

Dead are Peter Sorkopud, 60, and Harry Sorkopud, 59, of 542-304th St.

RCMP were called shortly after 5 a.m. to the Sorkopud home, where the two brothers had been living for the past 10 years. They saw Peter lying wounded on the grass in front of the house.

Officers surrounded the house first and then went inside where they found Harry dead on the kitchen floor. He was shot through the head at close range by a .22 calibre Cooey rifle.

Overheard fighting

RCMP said witnesses overheard the two brothers fighting during the early morning hours of Sunday. Apparently the scuffle started in the house and continued in the yard.

It is believed Harry fired a shot at his brother as he was running around the corner of the house and wounded him. The two continued their scuffle on the lawn and then Harry shot at his brother once again.

He then went inside the house where the apparent suicide took place.

Peter was taken to Kimberley Hospital where he died of the wounds at about 7:15 a.m.

Together for 10 years

The two brothers had lived in the home for about 10 years. There had been arguments previously, from time to time.

Coroner R.C. Stanton attended the scene and an autopsy was held in Kimberley Hospital. A coroner's inquest will be held.

The only known relatives of the two men live in Eastern Canada and have been notified.

Peter had been hurt in a mining accident and had an artificial leg. Harry was a well known figure riding his bicycle between Cranbrook and Kimberley collecting bottles.

Computer to select hunters of elk

KIMBERLEY - It is now known that the anterless elk hunting permits to be issued in 1972 will be allocated by computer.

The permit system is the Fish and Wildlife Branch's answer to requests for controlled hunting of cow elk in District 11, and this was discussed earlier this month at a special executive meeting of the Kimberley Junior Fish and Game Club. Also attending the meeting were the president and another executive member of the local Rod and Gun Club, charter members of the Jr. Club and some adults.

The meeting set up a number of recommendations to improve East Kootenay hunting and these are to be drafted in letter form and presented at another meeting before being sent to the government.

It now appears that the permit system poses more immediate problems and Roy Demarchi, Regional Biologist from Cranbrook will be in Kimberley next week to discuss why the B.C. Wildlife Branch will operate an elk permit system. A special public meeting is to be called by the Jr. Fish and Game Club to hear his reasons.

Opposition to the permit system has been voiced to the government by the Jr. Club, which permits only members with hunting licenses to vote on such matters. Mr. Demarchi has advised Nelson News Sports writer Ron Kerr that the local junior club is the only group to have voiced opposition, but the local Rod and Gun executive are known to be opposed. Fernie hunters are 100% in opposition and there is hunter opposition in Trail. (One has stated he would rather see cow elk hunting closed down rather than carried out by permit.)

Big worry is whether the permits would be issued on a population basis which would result in discrimination against the large numbers of East Kootenay hunters and the question has also been raised as to how long it will be before all hunting is by permit under the quota system.

It's Eimers not Armours

by Betty Oliver

There seems to be considerable confusion in the minds of Kimberley people regarding the name of the little lake up above Lower Blarchmont.

Eimer's Lake is named after a German farmer of that name who had a farm close to the hill just after the land was thrown open for re-emption in 1914.

According to the late George James, Mr. Eimer had difficulty obtaining title to the land because of his nationality and Mr. James assisted him in the matter.

Eimer's Lake was for many years the source of the water supply for the adjacent Lower Blarchmont area, known in those days as French Town, because of the numerous Quebecers settled there.

Largest blaze in Kimberley's history

A raging fire, which turned Kimberley's Selkirk Senior Secondary School into a holocaust last night, destroyed three-quarters of the building causing damages that will likely exceed one million dollars. It was the largest fire in Kimberley's history.

Close to 40 members of the Kimberley and Cominco fire departments and volunteers fought the stubborn blaze for 12 hours.

The fire was spotted about 7 p.m. last night when youngsters in the gymnasium smelled smoke. The alarm was turned in and firemen arrived at the scene by 7:15 p.m.

Apparently starting in the cafeteria area on the north side of the school, the tire quickly engulfed the entire cafeteria and the second storey music room directly above. Flames rapidly spread to the adjoining gymnasium, which was destroyed within 30 minutes. When firemen arrived the entire rear of the cafeteria was in flames. Even with gas masks on they were driven back by the smoke and heat.

With this start the flames spread rapidly through the building and at one stage were shooting 40 or 50 feet into the air.

A smouldering mess

By morning all of the older portion of the school, which was constructed in 1952 and included 16 classrooms on two storeys, was a smoldering mess. Firemen were able to save the new portion of the school, a three-quarters of a million dollar addition, built in 1966 of steel and concrete.

The section that burned was of frame construction and contained 16 rooms in addition to the gymnasium. These included the chemistry lab, biology lab, music room, cafeteria and new library, an open area that was completely renovated three years ago and contained thousands of dollars in library books.

School offices were also located on the main floor and, thanks to the alert work of Principal E.A. Maglio, the bulk of the student records were saved.

Total of 575 students attended grades 10, 11 and 12 at Selkirk.

Apparently there was some delay when the alarm was firm turned in. The youngsters playing badminton in the gym pulled the alarm in the school thinking it was connected directly with the fire hall, which it wasn't.

Also one of the two fire trucks were out on a practice run when the alarm was turned in, but this caused little delay.

"This was the largest fire I have seen since coming here in 1951," Fire Chief Dickens said this morning, and he didn't know of a larger fire prior to that time.

The only reported injury in the blaze was to a fireman Douglas Payton, who was overcome by smoke - and taken to the hospital, his condition was reported as satisfactory this morning.

The fire is believed to have started in the cafeteria area and worked its way through inaccessible attic space and spread throughout the entire original portion of the school.

Chief Dickens said the firemen were hard pressed to keep the blaze contained to the old portion of the school. "Without the aid from Cominco firemen, we would have found it difficult to save any portion of the school at all," he declared.

The new part of the school contains metal and woodworking areas on the lower floor, commerce and drafting rooms on the second floor and four classrooms on the top floor.

Total of 648,000 gallons of water were pumped into the area in the 12 hours that the fire was fought and men were still on the scene this morning keeping the smoldeirng nibble wetted down.

At the scene last night it was rumored that water supplies were low. However, a check this morning with the City Works Department clarified the situation.
Continued on page 42.

Next.

Salute to Kimberley - Index Page

Front Cover  -   Inside Front Cover

Page One 1896 - 1910, -  Page Two 1900 - 1911, -  Page Three 1912 - 1920, -  Page Four 1921 - 1924, -  Page Five 1925
Page Six 1926, -  Page Seven 1927, -  Page Eight 1928, -  Page Nine 1929, -  Page Ten 1930, - 
Page Eleven 1930, -  Page Twelve 1931/32, -  Page Thirteen 1933 - 1936, -  Page Fourteen 1937 - 1939, -  Page Fifteen 1940, - 
Page Sixteen 1941/42, -  Page Seventeen 1943, -  Page Eighteen 1944/45, -  Page Nineteen 1945/46, -  Page Twenty 1946/47, - 
Page Twentyone 1948, -  Page Twentytwo 1948, -  Page Twentythree 1949, -  Page Twentyfour 1950/51, -  Page Twentyfive 1951, - 
Page Twentysix 1952, -  Page Twentyseven 1953, -  Page Twentyeight 1954/55, -  Page Twentynine 1955, -  Page Thirty 1956/57, - 
Page Thirtyone 1957/58, -  Page Thirtytwo 1958/59, -  Page Thirtythree 1959 - 1961, -  Page Thirtyfour 1961/62, -  Page Thirtyfive 1962/63, - 
Page Thirtysix 1963/64, -  Page Thirtyseven 1964 - 1966, -  Page Thirtyeight 1967, -  Page Thirtynine 1968 - 1970, -  Page Forty 1970, - 
Page Fortyone 1971, -  Page Fortytwo 1972, -  Page Fortythree 1973, -  Page Fortyfour 1974/75, -  Page Fortyfive 1975, - 
Page Fortysix 1976, -  Page Fortyseven 1976, -  Page Fortyeight 1977/78, -  Page Fortynine 1978, -  Page Fifty 1979/80, - 
Page Fiftyone 1981/82, -  Page Fiftytwo 1982/83, -  Page Fiftythree 1983/84, -  Page Fiftyfour 1985, -  Page Fiftyfive 1986/87, - 
Page Fiftysix 1987/88, -  Page Fiftyseven 1988/89, -  Page Fiftyeight 1989 - 1991, -  Page Fiftynine 1991/92, -  Page Sixty 1993/94, - 
Page Sixtyone 1995, -  Page Sixtytwo 1996/97, -  Page Sixtythree 1997/98, -  Page Sixtyfour 1998/99, -  Back Cover

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