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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-09-29, Page 2Page _ 2 Times•Advocate, September 29,1982 • DEADLY SMOKE — Deadly toxic smoke continues to billow into the air several hours after the start of Wednesday's $1,000,000 fire in Dashwood. Residents down wind were evacuated and no reports have been received of anyone suffering ill effects from the fumes. Dashwood fire loss over Continued from front page the dangers inherent in such a fire. Company vice-president Don Lockhurst was also quickly on the scene to re- mind firemen of the dangers of the acid gas. Some residents of Dashwood are now finding out just how toxic the gas was. Kiefer said most of the tools in the Dashwood Garage operated by he and his father, have started to rust. ."We cleaned them off and they're starting to rust again," he reported a few days after the fire. Lockhurst said the polyvinyl chloride substances aren't particularly combusti- ble, but degrade when heated and give off hydrochloric gas. That's basically an acid gas and it would burn your lungs out if you inhaled too much. "It's very lethal to your system and you can be quick- ly overcome," he was quoted. Kipfer said it may be in- teresting to see what happens to vehicles which were covered by the smoke. It was a tearful homecom- ing for ; Ivan and Shirley Grigg, who had left earlier that morning to visit a sick aunt in Farmington, Michigan. They were notified by family members that their home had been destroyed and they, returned immediately, arriving home around 4:30 p.m. to view a blackened hulk- Mrs. Grigg said this week she and her husband planned to rebuild on the seine site, although noted that they could never replace some of the valued family pieces that had been destroyed. "A lot of things can't be replaced," she lamented. They are living in a house provided for them by Grand Bend pharmacist Bill Har- wood in Oakwood Park. He was one of many friends and relatives who had provided assistance and Mrs. Grigg ex- plained that was helping her overcome the tragic loss. She estimated their loss at $70,000 and said that it was on- ly partially covered by insurance. It was a long trip home from Michigan, she reported. Loss has been set at around $300,000 for ARC Industries said Donald Campbell, • ex- ecutive director of the South Huron and District Associa- tion for the Mentally Han- dicapped which owned the warehouse. He said no decision has been made on rebuilding, but. said the Association was at- tempting to secure new warehousing for the time be- ing until the decision is made. ARC Industries lost a large quantity of finished garden furniture, some machinery and equipment used to pro- cess and bag soil for potted plants. Brian Kipfer set his loss at around $25,000, which includ- ed the barn in which he stored •a collector's series automobile and five snowmobiles. As a member of the fire brigade, he said he was too busy at the scene to try and get any of his own belongings out of the fire. The Dashwood Garage was on fire and brigades from Exeter and Grand fiend brought it under control with only minor damage. A barn owned by E. R. Guenther had a roof badly damaged. The biggest loss was suf- fered by United Plastics. Company president Steve Peacock said the loss may run over the original estimate of $500,006 and the firm is just starting to find out how seriously the fire has affected some aspects . of their business. Peacock was in Toronto at the time of the fire and had completed a sale for a toy item the firm manufactures. At the time he was making that sale, the fire was destroy- ing the toy product which had been stored in the "warehouse. il V Also lost•wes a large order of furniture destined for Australia and he said he didn't know whether the fur- niture could be replaced in time to satisfy the customer who wanted the items for the Australian summer season which is t`api0ly approaching. The same situation faces the firm in the loss of furniture for a London restaurant due to open soon. "We haven't missed a beat," Peacock said in reference to production at the plant, but noted that it will be difficult to make up many of the orders which were Stored x1.000 in the warehouse as well as to have product for the upcom- ing furniture shows. He feared that some orders that may have been obtained at those shows could be in jeopardy. Adding to the firm's woes is the fact that all their packag- ing materials were in the warehouse and they can't be replaced now due to a strike in that industry. "That could cause us a big problem," he said, noting some industrial friends were attempting to assist them. Spare equipment and some of the production dies were 000 • also lost. Peacock referred to the dies as being "invaluable to us." "We're just starting tp realize all the problems, ' he added, noting that the 20 employees had worked over- time on the weekend to supp- ly components for Dashwood Industries. The original order had been destroyed only hours before they were to be delivered. "We have good people will- ing to do that for us," the company president said. "No one wins in a fire, it's a major aggravation," he concluded. 11111ii11111 BARN GOES — Thebarn of Brian Kiefer is engulfed in flames and the adjoining The latter buildin was saved Dashwood Garage roof is also onfire when this photo was taken by Bill Struyke. .' CRUMPLES — The south wall of the ARC Industries as the billowing cloud of toxic smoke pours out. warehouse starts to crumple Photo by Struyke CAR LOST — The smoking hulk of Brian Kipfer's collector's series automobile can be seen 'in the centre of the smoking rubble of the garage he lost. Kipfer also lost five snowmobiles in the Dashwood blaze. His house, just south of the warehouse in which the fire started, was saved although he said "it was close" and reported steam poured off the home when the firemen hit it with their water lines. } Air f' }fe't4W A1241114. NOT A PRETTY PICTURE — A look through the picture window of the Grigg house shows the "total destruction suffered by the home. DETAILS LOSS — Gary Lockhurst, co-owner and vice- president of United Plastics, explains the firm's loss and the dangers of the deadly gas given off in Wednesday's fire in Dashwood to one of the many reporters who ar- rived on the scene. EVERYONE HELPS — A broken leg suffered in a baseboll game didn't deter John Becker from assisting at the Dashwood fire.Hepropped the foot on this water container to keep it dry, while he was working at the scene. f f Strike ended The strike at the Huron Park plant of Protective Plastics lasted exactly one week. The approximately 60 hour- ly workers went back to the production lines at midnight Sunday after okaying the set- tlement in a ratification vote Saturday. According to the agreement production workers will receive an immediate 62 cents per hour rise and maintenance workers will get an increase of 68 cents per hour. The differential is for a tool allowance. A basic dental plan paid for by the company will go into effect on January 1 -and the company will pay 100 percent of OHIP premiums. • Included in the settlement w•as"an updating of health and safety agreements and the company agreed to eliminate its option to call for 10 hour shifts during the daylight sav- ings time period. • Under the new contract, general production labourers wili go from 16.23 to 16.85 an hour, machine workers will go from $6.73 to 17.35 an hour and maintenance employee's hourly rate will rise from 18.73 to $9.41 per hour. • i .- •ii MPS MANY FIREMEN — Over 60 volunteer firemen helped fight the Dashwood fire. Some are shown here on the north side of the home of Ivan and Shirley Grigg which was destroyed in the blaze. SMOKING REMAINS — Firemen ploy their hose on the smoking remains of the home of Ivan and Shirley Grigg, which was totally destroyed in the Dashwood blaze, Wednesday. The Griggs were away at the time and estimate their loss at $70,000. PROVIDE REFRESHMENTS-- Phyllis Johnson of the Dashwood Hotel was on the scene at Wednesday's fire to provide coffee and sandwiches forthemany firemen fighting the blaze. Fire guts pickup truck A pickup truck .was destroyed in a fire which oc- curred on a district road this week, and six other vehicles were involved in collisions in- vestigated by the Exeter OPP. On Tuesday, a 1977 pickup truckvlriven by Peter Rogers, London, caught fire on the Crediton Road west of Huron Road 2 and was completely ,destroyed. The Dashwood fire depart- ment attended and damage was set at 15,000. On the same day, a vehicle driven by Kathryn DaVey, IRR 1 Exeter, struck loose gravel on Stephen sideroad 15 west of Highway 4 and rolled over in the ditch. Damage was set at 11,500. The other two collisions were on Wednesday, the first involving three vehicles' Drivers included Leona Mcin- tosh, RR 3 Dashwood, Darrel Finkbeiner, RR 1 Crediton, and Ronald CIark, Huron Park. They collided on Huron Road 2 north of the Crediton Road and total damage was listed at 12,100. The other involved a vehi- cle driven by ,lacob Kallumadyil, Exeter, and an unknown vehicle which left the scene of the mishap at the intersection of the Crediton Road and County Road 21. Damage to the Exeter man's vehicle was estimated at 1500. Ve-4, ids r RESTORE POWER PUC staff from Hensall and Zurich helped restore power to Dashwood after Wednesdoy's fire. The assistance reduced the time neighboring pro- perty owners were without power.