The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-06-07, Page 1120th Year Whole No.. Sgpq SEAFORTH,; ONTARIO THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 1979 sr- 24 PAGES SMOKE-FILLED IILED BUILDING This Seaforth firemen uses his air pak:and mask to enter the smoke-filled .McKiiioP Township offices. on Sunday morning= ea BY WiL' OKE. Reeve Ervin Sillet'Y informed Tuckersmith council at a meeting inBruce- field the Town of field Tuesdaynight that B Seaforth is •proposing to terminate its formal ' fire . protection agreement' with its neighbouringtownshi s at the end of' P. December, :1979. He said he and the r ceves of Hullett,. Hibbert,: and Mckillop had attended a special .meeting of Seaforth council when the reeves were handed the proposal. The meeting_was_ closed to the press:`: Arson is suspected in a $22,000: fire at the McKillop Township office in Winthrop which was apparently set following; a break in at the building. The fire, which originated in the office vault, was discovered at about 11 a,rn o>a, Sunday morning by neighbour Douglas. Schroeder who noticed smoke coming from vents in the building's. roof. Nine men, from the Seaforth fire depart- ment epartment answered the call and fought the fire for three hours, returning again in the afternoon when it was feared the intense • heat w the l uildirlg would destroy township records. , Although it is. difficult to estimate damage to the one -storey building and its interior, Reeve Allan Campbell said.S22,000 was an approximate '`ballpark figure." All the machines in the building, including a xerox:. machine and the telephones. were damaged. by the intense heat from the 'vault atidd will have to be replaced, 00, Reeve Campbell said he has no idea holy much it will cost to replace the township files which were salvaged,since it will take days and days for clerk Marion McClure to assess. all the damage. About half the township records were destroyed in the fire. The reeve said the interior of the buidling w,ti:nave to be redone since there was smoke and water damage to the floor., ceilings and. office walls. Although the heat cracked one ()Utile front windows 'in the building, none of the windows buckled during the fire. • Seaforth fire chief Harry Hak said firefighters had to ehop through the . building's roof in ordee to get into the attic with' foam. The chiefsaid it was. fortunate the building, was pretty well air tight since there wasn't enough' oxygen to feed the wants t "We •didn't want the other membeis.of the township councils to learn of the proposal from the newspaper before the reeves had a chance to discuss it with them,,, Seaforth clerk • Jim Crocker, explained Wednesday when asked whir. Y Because the discussion onthe.. fire. agreement came up after midnight at the end of a lengthy council session Tuckersmith council did not go into the Saaforth proposal too deeply but will consider it at another meeting. Councillor. Frank Falconer said he felt a flames, The :chief said the fire could Kaye smoldered' for some time before . it was discovered on Sunday morning. Mr. Hak added the building was stickwith smoke when the firemen were finally able to enter it with their air :packs. He said he had never been in a building where there was so. little fire and so much heat. The vault in the office,•: building' was surrounded by cement blocks which held the heat in. Mr. Hak said his men were called back to the 'building at 2:40 p,m. in the afternoon. when Reeve Campbell feared the records inside filing cabinets in the vault would catch on fire, The firemen remoVed the filing cabinets from the vault at that time. On. Monday, Bob Reid of the Ontario fire' marshal's office in :Kitchener sifted through the vault. Arson is suspected in the fire,' but no further reportis expected from the fire marshal's office. .until a suspe.t is. apprehended. - Constable Ray Primeau: of the Goderich' O. P, P. is investigating the break-in. To date,. Reeve Campbell said he and the clerk hadn't, discovered anything that was missing. The reeve said there wasn't any money kept in the vault, He said there were ce rtified cheques in the vault, but these couldn't be cashed, by anyone else, Most of testi cheques have been recovered. .Until the •interior of the office can be renovated, clerk Marion McClure is working in the township: shed next door to'"?the township office. Reeve Campbell said he is, hoping a trailer, tan be located for Mrs. McClure to use as a temporary office. - Reeve Campbell said, You just can't help asking why someone would do this," The • reeve and others staved at the. township offices until 11;30 p.m. on Sunday to ensure: that the fire didn't break out again. $13 a year in ad e 30 Cents Single. 1 or• Ka i t lo h: ,"s ould" !lie sent' sa ' leiter to Seaforth h ;'� ;le council regreated the decision, to opt outand hoping the Seaforth council would change its mind: The Seaforth proposal Provided that the town would enter into agreements with the townships to buy fire protection from the town and that it would negotiate the transfer of all fire.'a apparatus. and ' of ownershipPp equipment presently owned by the Seaferth Fire Area Board. The proposal also stated that the present disagreement over fire hydrants rental cost HEAVY DAMAGES IN Sunday Fire The- . McKillop he - McKillop. Township offices. were ,heavily damaged in a fire discovered Sunday morning. Here Seaforth firemen useair oaks to enter the will not be pursued; 'that two companies would be asked to evaluate the present market value 'of :allfire apparatus and equipment and that the total value of said equipment PP be apportioned on a percenta8e basis and credited .to the five municipalities, as credit towards the costs arising as a result of a new agreement, thatmember Seaforth '. asked eac m h m ber municipality review " the, information presented, at the special meeting and the. draft , agreement . with their respective councils, and advise the Town by June 15 if Tvckersmi�th.: may build third Egmandvil'1'e well for about 11,000 • A. proposed d by-law - awto .provide o id e for Because c ovennB'.. .a tank would cos.a Tuckersmith th isconsidering ng drilling a third giver', thi rd reading and accepted Court of setorJu 1'7. only,wsf 1 enclosing manure tanks or lagoons in farmer almost double the cost. of a tank• well in Egmondville to supply nein ay Tuckersmith'. occupied most of :the time all members of council were anxious not to homeowners. At present the system is Applications for building permits were the. farmer with undue costs. handling it ,mit of customers with the two approved for David Christie, Brucefield, for ,.dorm a meetingof council Tuesday tnght. burdening s.l PP councillors Ron .Flemin from the Ministry of wells. Allan Nicholson road su perintendent a tool shed and: •small, office, upon the" that lasted almost five hours as u g . P,,, . Food' Clinton,ttended the who 'manages nage the mo dY !le% water, a roVall 'of building ' ' inspector, Herman discussed the contents of the bylaw: Agriculture and ,ma g s th Pg n s... w PP _ g i and to e r i .. VanW ieren'' John' McLean, porch; Dorothy Two. of the councillors.indicated their main meeting au advise council ort system; said he, had met With well -driller , p , y thequestions on 'the ro osed by-law. Neil Hopper who said anei ht -inch well,200 " Butt,;E mondville, arae` and porch; concern'_was need for fencing because of answer quer n p p y N H pp w g8 , garage i . were Two township residents:who were interested feet deepwould cost about $5 000plus the Robert CooPer, implement :shed; Alex :...safety. The other two councillors . P P t of in the by-law, Robert. Broadfoot and Donal d. .cost of a building `to house the:um and a - Townsend,' RR 4 Seaforth 'addition' to barn; concerned as well: about.- the safety • , Y .bpump ' e - or others"working Pa le, were at the meeting and gave their new' pump in'all estimated to cost over Franklin Falconer, RR 5 Clinton; implement snowmobders,: childreng PP g about lagoon areas who might fall in, as well opinions on the problem, of storing and 511,000: • shed and steel granery; John Oldfield, RR 4• sin odours. handlingliquid manure.. The ClarkDrainage Works report was Seaforth, shed, and Cal vin Bisback, barn. • as enclosing. tanks to down odou s uid q 8 P ... • DdFA 1`HE EN NSpA It was oacasion antique fabs will long retpember Saturday when Bruce itiathWelli •left, auctioned off the large :antique cotte'ction of Ethel Beattie, centre. Miss Beattie, 83, for Many moved to Huronview. A iatrie ro the• bidder eTifragrt hemi OId years an antique dealer i pSeafort hwiith her tate aisle many` c ., herr`I it w friend and customer5ygreeted -tier appearance at the sane:: �xttie dnti�ue auction at high prices big crowd, BY SUSAN *ft tt Antique collectors from alt over Ontario and neighbouring: United > States paid top prices ` here Saturday when the, lifetime C011ection of Miss Ethel Beattie was :