From the Publisher
Disaster can strike without notice. In a split-second the forces of
nature, human intervention, or a simple twist of fate can place
lives in jeopardy. A ship sinks, a plane crashes, a child wanders
deep into the forest. Death is imminent, except for the bravery and
persistence of small groups of men and women who enter these dark
frontiers as rescuers. They fail sometimes. But often they return
with the near dead, plucking them from the hungry jaws of disaster.
Written by veteran newsman Dean Beeby, Deadly Frontiers: Disaster
and Rescue on Canadas Atlantic Seaboard tells the stories of
real-life heroes, and of the bureaucracy and bungling that threaten
their lives and those they have sworn to save. In Deadly Frontiers,
Dean Beeby deals with the chilling question of Canadas
preparedness for disaster, as he investigates the most significant
events in the contemporary history of search and rescue. Canada
occupies a unique position in the rarified world of search and
rescue. The second-largest country on the planet, Canada has three
jagged coastlines, an immense internal wilderness, and a vast
Arctic to swallow hapless travellers. Since the Second World War,
Canadas East Coast has been the crucible for modern
search-and-rescue techniques and equipment. This hard-won
experience has been driven mostly by disaster, from the 1982
sinking of the Ocean Ranger oil rig off Newfoundland to numerous
cargo-vessel disappearances in the 1990s, including the Protektor,
Gold Bond Conveyor, Marika, and Vanessa. Ground search and rescue,
a special branch of this culture, was reborn in 1986 during the
protracted search for a lost child in the forests north of Halifax.
Swissair Flight 111 plunged into waters off Peggys Cove, Nova
Scotia in 1998, triggering a massive search-and-recovery effort, as
well as a fundamental rethinking of emergency response. The worst
disaster within the search-and-rescue community itself was the 1998
crash in Quebec of a Labrador helicopter from Greenwood, Nova
Scotia, leaving six rescue specialists dead among the charred
wreckage. In Deadly Frontiers, author Dean Beeby examines official
documents, forensic evidence, and the personal histories of those
involved in these cases and more. His book is a frank examination
of how Canadas tragedies and triumphs have helped forge a
professional search-and-rescue culture that is second to none.
From the Jacket
A ship sinks, a plane crashes, a child wanders deep into the forest
and the worlds best search-and-rescue personnel are on the spot,
risking their own lives to snatch the victims from death. Among the
terrifying events in Deadly Frontiers are the death of
nine-year-old Andy Warburton in the woods near Halifax, the sinking
of the MV Flare and the Ocean Ranger, the wreck of a Labrador
search-and-rescue helicopter, an the crash of Swissair Flight 111.
Veteran newsman Dean Beeby covered many of these disasters,
sometimes form his reporters desk and sometimes from the midst of
the action. He reveals the heroism of rescuers determined to cheat
dense forest and the raging Atlantic of their human prey. He also
exposes the political heel-dragging that hinders the work of these
brave men and women.
About the Author
Dean Beeby was born in Halifax and grew up in Edmonton, Kingston, Kitchener, Dorval, and Toronto. He earned a BA in History from York University and a MA in History from the University of Toronto. He has been a career journalist since 1981, joining the Canadian Press in 1983. In 1987/88 he covered Parliament Hill for CP and in 1988 he became their Toronto Business Editor. He has lived in Halifax since 1990 where he is the Canadian Press Bureau Chief for the Atlantic region. Dean Beeby is a recognized authority on search and rescue. As a journalist, he has covered many disasters including the 1998 crash of Swissair Flight 111, for which CP Atlantic Bureau won a National Newspaper Award. Beeby is the author of In a Crystal Land: Canadian Explorers in Antarctica and Cargo of Lies: The True Story of a Nazi Double Agent in Canada. He has been a contributor to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, The Canadian Encyclopedia, and the journal Ontario History. In 1987, he was co-editor of Moscow Despatches: Inside Cold War Russia. Beeby is an ardent advocate and user of freedom of information laws, including the federal Access to Information Act. He has been a speaker and panelist at numerous conferences and seminars, including those organized by the Canadian Association of Journalists, the Canadian Newspaper Association and the federal Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
