School equipment trashed

Photo: Contributed

Vandals have dealt a blow to a high school forestry program.

Cody Dolman posted on Facebook that someone had damaged a John Deere 650G bulldozer as well as burning a picnic table and chair.

According to Dolman's post, this is the second time the Charles Bloom Secondary School forestry equipment has been hit.

The first was when fire extinguishers were set off in the exhaust, air filters and radiator, but caused no damage.
At 9 a.m. Tuesday, the forestry class was surprised to find the crawler had extensive damage.

“First, these vandals decided to stab plenty of various sized holes into the hydraulic filter, which caused the JD to bleed out of any and all hydraulic oil,” posted Dolman. “Second, the air release hose for the hydraulics had been cut, with bits and pieces scattered around/missing, as well as a damaged seat.

"The last thing that was damaged wasn’t to the equipment, but to the area where we eat and have our safety meetings, etc.

"These vandals set fire to a picnic table and a chair and left broken beer bottles scattered around the fire pit."

Dolman said if such behaviour continues, students "will no longer have suitable equipment for future forestry classes, which is a huge loss for our school."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the school at 250-547-2191.