By Damian Inwood, Vancouver Province November 24, 2009VANCOUVER — The Vancouver 2010 Olympic flame has been extinguished a dozen times so far due to cold, windy weather, said torch relay officials. But while 2010 relay boss Jim Richards said he plans to discuss "solutions" when the torch reaches Fredericton, N.B., Wednesday, Bombardier's top engineer said Tuesday there are no plans to re-design it. "The torch itself has gone out maybe a dozen times but, as you know, we've always got the backup flame in the security vehicle," said Richards, on the phone from Moncton, N.B. "We are meeting Bombardier in Fredericton to do some more work and improve things, so that we don't have it go out again."
On Nov. 9 on the barren tundra near Resolute Bay, Nunavut, the torch wouldn't light at all, Richards said. "We were at -37 C, with 60 km/h winds," said Richards. "It was just brutally cold. The wind and conditions were such that we couldn't get the torch warmed up that morning so we ran the lantern until we got into the town of Resolute, where there was a bit more of a windbreak."
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