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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1983-01-26, Page 2BUY r --OW AD SAV ONLY 5 DAYS LEFT IN OUR BIGGEST SALE EVER ON • FURNITURE • APPLIANCES • CARPETING • ETC. OUR YEAR END SALE ENDS MONDAY JAN. 31 DON'T MISS OUR GREAT BUYS .h. Yam Namaland 1wnNu,e and applionci stns WHITING'S WAREHOUSE Furniture and Appliantes MAIN Si. frXETER 235-1964 Page 2 Times -Advocate, January 26, 1983 Firemen visit public school Firer safety part of curriculum to test a door for dangerous conditions on the other side before opening it, and how to breathe through a wet cloth and crawl along the floor where the best air is found in the vicinity of a fire. The three men were then bombarded with questions the class had prepared beforehand. How many firemen?• Twenty-four. How many trucks? Four. How many volunteers respond toa fire in town? Ten to twelve; you can't all go and leave the station empty. How often is the equipment checked? Twice a month on the first and third Thursday the firemen have a practice and test everything. • Queries about the length of ladders and hoses and how much water the tanker will hold vividly illustrated the generation gap. The fire department still uses•the Im- perial measurements. mperial.measurements. Even the truck instrumentation gives readings in pounds of pressure per square inch. Be- ing told the ladders range in .length from eight td 55 feet, each hose is 1,200 feet long, and the tanker holds 2,200. gallons of water .meant nothing to youngster who have been taught;only metric Replying to a question about false alarms, Edwards revealed that all in -coming calls are taped. A prankster turning in a false alarm can often be identified by his own voice. The children were shown a movie on fire prevention, and what to do in case of fire. They learned that many modern synthetic materials in drapes, furniture and even the lowly styrofoam coffee cup give off deadly fumes while burning, and more peo- ple die from the effects of heat and smoke thanare burned to death. is fully committed to the old adage "an ounce of preven- tion is worth a pound of cure", (but may be forced to switch to metric eventually.) They would not complain if there was never another fire in Ex- eter or the surrounding area. In order to narrow the distance to that illusive goal, the firemen participate in an on-going program of com- munity education. Sometimes they conduct tours of young school children through the fire hall; other times, they pack up some of their equip- ment and go to the schools. Captain John Morgan, ac; companied by firemen Leroy Edwards and Norm Tait, _ visited grades one and two at Exeter Public School this week in conjunction with the children's social studies course. First Tait donned the coat, boots, hat with face - protecting heat shield, winter mitts and belt holding a key to open the fire hydrants, ex- plaining the purpose of each article worn by a volunteer fireman. Tait showedi the children the pagers, effective within a ten mile radius, carried by each member of the Exeter fire department. They are ac- tivated as soon as the alarm sounds. Two portable radios keep the men in touch with the trucks and home base. The two firemen wearing the air supply tanks work on the buddy system. They do not enter a building until handed a hose, which is their guide to the exit if the smoke is dense. Each apparatus con- tains enough air for ten to twenty minutes of breathing, - The film emphasized the importance of prior planning of escape routes in the fami- ly home, how to get out safe- ly from a second storey win- dow (and then stay out), how dependingon the person. When a wrning bell on one of the tanks signals that only two minutes of air remains in that tank, both firemen leave together. "Not enough fire planning is done in the home on how to get out, alternate routes, a meeting place after or where to go to phone the fire depart- ment," Morgan commented. • "We hope the children will re- tain something that will jog their memory. Many bring fire hazards in the home to their parents' attention after a session like this." Tait, fire prevention officer with the department, said the volunteers supervise fire drills twice a year at Precious Blood, Exeter and Usborne Schools. The two latter are almost equally fast at empty- ing their school in 49 seconds, an exceptionally good time. Tait laughingly admitted to only once being at a loss for words in a question session in a classroom when a young boy asked what the students should do in case the teacher panicked during fire drill. He regained his composure quickly and expressed his confidence in the teacher's stability. The department is in the midst of a national fire safe- ty poster cqntest open to all Grade five students. The local firemen will pick out the best posters from area schools and send them on for considera- tion by the judges in the fire marshal's office. Three years ago three Exeter children won prizes in the cross -Canada contest. • The firemen's efforts are paying dividends.. Tait at- tributes the small number of fires to the Exeter depart- ment's safety and prevention campaign. The last fire in Exeter was November 23, 1982. • • COLOUR ME CONVALESCENT — South Huron Hospital director of nursing Audrey Pooley (left) and assistant director Norma lindenfield admire one of the colour- ing books for young patients donated to the hospital by Don McIver representing the Stratford -area branch of Telephone Pioneers of America. Three court convictions Only three convictions were registered by Justice of the Peace Douglas Wedlake in Exeter court, Tuesday. A fine of $128 was levied against Michael Norris Gallagher, Huron Park. after he pleaded guilty to failing.to remain at the scene of an ac- cident on December 11. Evidence revealed his vehi- cle slid on ice and struck a parked car. He told police he was frightened and took off. Gallagher was given two months in which to pay the fine. Mr. Wedlake ruled an ex- planation as unsatisfactory in the speeding charge against Fred M. Lawrence Jr., RR 1 Auburn, who had been charg- ed with driving at a speed of 110 in an 80 km. zone on Kirkton Fair receipts up Gate receipts and number of exhibitors were both higher in 1982 than the previous -year, those attending the annual meeting of the Kirkton fall fair board were told, despite the fact many regular helpers were busy at fair time work- ing with the International Plowing Match which opened two weeks later ht Lucan. ' Attendance at the horseshoe pitch was down, as the organizer and his assistants had other com- mitments at the iPM. The Fair Board will hold another meeting in March just before the Kirkton Fair spring dance to plan activities for 1983. - A new president, Mike O'Shea was elected. Marianne Ferguson will serve a second terra as secretary -treasurer, and the position of a .vice-president Is still vacant. November 16. His wife appeared on his behalf and said that repair work had been carried out on the vehicle and this had resulted in the speedometer -being inaccurate. A fine of 848 was levied. In the only other case com- pleted, a fine of 838 was im- posed on Donald John Crawford, Kintore, who pleaded guilty to operating an unsafe vehicle in Usborne • Township on December 3. The investigating officer revealed he had noticed the front wheel on the vehicle badly tilted and the accused admitted the ball joint was worn, as was a left rear tire. He was given 15 days in which to pay the fine. Several other cases were started but were set over for further evidence at later dates. Area accidents Two area women sustained minor injuries in one of the four . accidents investigated this week by the Exeter OPP. Injured were Donna Garvey, Grand Bend, and Martha Penn, Dashwood, drivers of vehicles involved in a collision on Highway 83 at Highway 21 on Wednesday. The Penn vehicle went out of control and struck the Garvey vehicle and damage was set at 82,000. Damage of $4,000 was recorded in another accident on Wednesday when a vehicle driven by Robert Lyon, Westhill, went out of control on ice on Hay concession 2-3 north of sideroad 10-11 and went into the ditch and and rolled over. The driver escaped uninjured. The other two collisions were reported on Monday, the first involving vehicles operated by John Spruyt, Mt. Brydges, and Jack Ver- maeten, RR 3 Exeter. They collided at the intersection of Huron St. and concession 2-3 in Osborne and damage was listed at $2,200. The other nil/span occurred at Grand Cove Estates just north of Grand Rend when a vehicle driven by James McCoy, a resident of the park, skidded on loose snow and struck a brick post at the en- trance. Damage was estimated at 8500. Broncos on - highway, 4' For motorists travelling along Highway 4 between Clandeboye and the Lucan bridge early Monday evening it appeared a rodeo was, in progress. - Six horses escaped from the farm of Arnold Lewis on Con- cession 2 of Biddulph township and headed to the area of Highway 4. Corporal D. L. Foley and Constables F. L. Goldschmidt and D. i4. Marshall of the Lucan Ontario Provincial Police detachment answered a call at 7:10 p.m. as a number of horses were reported near the highway. By 10:15 they were still not rounded up and were dashing across the highway. At this point the officers called for help from the Lucan-Biddulph fire department and 20 volunteers arrived. The animals were finally corralled'by about•11:30 and traffic along Highway 4 returned to normal. ALL EYES FRONT The children in grades one and two at Exeter Public School were very attentive during a visit to their doss by three volunteer firemen. Gregory Cregan (left), Gavin Snell, Glenn Hines, Lisa Forest and Taro Hunking listen as Norm Tait explains how the pager works. Christine Morgan has seen it all before; her dad is captain John Morgan. Evelyn Edwards leans in for a close-up view. Riddell asks moratorium on closure of regional. centres Liberal Huron -Middlesex MPP Jack Riddell called Thursday night for a moratorium on closure of On- tario's regional centres for the developmentally han- dicapped pending further study of how adequate com- munity support services for the residents might be provided. Riddell told a meeting in Saltford, attended by about 400 persons; he opposes the planned closure of • the Bluewater Centre south of here because he is not con- vinced adequate community support services will be available to give centre residents "the dignity they now get" at the local institu- tion and the confidence counsellors have given them. The Goderich meeting was part of an ongoing campaign to persuade Community and Social Services Minister Frank Drea to abandon his five-year plan to' close the Bluewater Centre and five similar centres in Ontario. Bluewater is to be egmplete- ly phased out by March, 1984. Riddell said that at the very (east, Drea should place a moratorium on the closures until the effects of closing the first centre - at Brockville, 'due tb oceurwithin the next • fetw weeks ; tan be evaluated. New Democratic . MPP Richard Johnston (Scar- borough West) told the meeting he disagrees with Riddell. "Right now, we shouldn't accept the proposi- tion that Brockville will close,-" Johnston said. He reiterated his call for the formation of an all -party committee of the legislature to hold public hearings into the issue and to question responsible, officials about their plans. Johnston also chose to de- nounce Drea personally. Referring to the minister's jibes at Riddell in the legislature and his recent comments on battered wives and welfare recipients, Johnston said: "The man has • brought a very nasty taste to the community and social ser- vices department, where we should have a man of compas- sion. Why Mr. (Premier William) Davis keeps him in that job is something that I can't understand." During a tour of the centre earlier, Riddell charged that the minister was looking "more at spending cutbacks than at human benefits." He added: "I;m just terribly con- cerned that the residents are not going to receive the same excellent services that they now get" at centres like Bluewater. Liberals' 11iurray Elston (Huron -Bruce), also on the tour, said there was no evidence of any planning in- to closing the centres. "No report exists anywhere that recommends this type of activity". Both Elston and Riddell regretted that neither the On- tario Association for the Men- tally Retarded nor any of the communities involved was consulted prior to the deci- sion. Drea has explained that such consultations were, in- tended but could not be car- ried out becausq„ the. ministry's proposals were prematurely.• leaked in the legista ast' fall by Elst n ed thi,t the trick of . ul ation has created ti ge administrative problems. Just getting municipal zoning changes for group homes needed to ac- commodate residents releas- ed from institutions like Bluewater, he said, "could go well beyond the two-year deadline for closing some of these institutions." Sean O'Flynn; preiclent of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, told the meetingpoliticians are anx- ious to put the developmental- ly handicapped "out of sight and out of mind". In O'Flynn's judgement, closure of the centres is simply a ploy to save the government 833 million in refurbishing costs and to ship the burden of car- ing onto municipalities. On O'Flynn's last point, Goderich Mayor Eileen Palmer said she and the five other concerned mayors met with Drea last, week and sought answers to three questions: • What after-care services will be made available for the residents in the community? • What will be the financial impact on the municipality in terms of higher welfare costs? • What future plans are there for the closed facilities? Palmer said she and the other mayors have given Drea until Feb. 7 to offer answers. Failing that, they will carry their inquiry direct- ly to Davis. Palmer said she is "very concerned and certainly very disappointed" with Drea's leaked plan to close the Bluewater Centre. She said she has heard rumors the cen- tre could be tranformed into an institution for juvenile delinquents. All speakers at the meeting regretted Drea's refusal to accept an invitation to Thurs- day's meeting. As a substitute, he was presented on videotape at the Bluewater Centre last May, praising the staff and summoning them to "think of the enormous loss to the entire community" if the centre was closed. Noting that scarcely a month later, Drea evidently decided to close the institu- tion, Palmer said: "It's no wonder Mr. Drea had some difficulty getting his words out." Bluewater administrator William Gregg estimated that two-thirds of the 151 persons nowin residence at the centre could be successfully placed back in the community pro- vided area associations can .give assurances of adequate community support services. • The remainder might be ac- commodated at the Midwestern regional facility in Palmerston. S..kin9 %pod FASHIONS FOR HER 373 Main Show, neer - 235.2+I40 5