Huron Expositor, 2016-12-14, Page 7Wednesday, December 14, 2016 • Huron Expositor 7
Fires "unrelenting" says Chief Spading atter another barn fire
Barn fire near Auburn on December
3 claims lives of 640 pigs; damages
estimated at over one million dollars
Justine Alkema blaze at the 17,000 square
Clinton News Record foot barn.
FDNH crews were back in
A farm north of Auburn service and ready to respond
suffered a huge loss early to other calls again by noon
December 3 after a massive that day, nearly 10 hours
barn fire that killed 640 later.
pigs; damages are esti- "On average, the Fire
mated at over one million Department of North Huron
dollars. responds to a pig barn fire
The Fire Department of every 18 months. This is the
North Huron was called by fourth barn fire within a
a passing driver just after three kilometer radius since
2 a.m. to the fire at West- March 2014;' said FPO James
field Road and Hoover Marshall. "None of these
Line. fires are suspicious, but
The FDNH in Blyth and based on the frequency of
Wingham and mutual aid calls, the Fire Marshal's
tankers from Goderich and Office sent an investigator to
Lucknow responded to the this scene"
Marshall assisted the
OFM's investigator Saturday
and Sunday. FDNH crews
were also called in to assist
the investigator Sunday
afternoon.
The cause of the fire was
determined to be electrical.
"Our fire call activity
this fall has been unre-
lenting," said FDNH Chief
David Sparling. "Until
September, the FDNH was
pretty close to projection,
but now we are well
beyond this, and this
number had been
increased from previous
years' forecasts."
FPO James Marshall com-
mented, "We encourage
farmers to regularly check
their barns' electrical sys-
tems to ensure they haven't
been compromised"
File photo
Justine Alkema/Clinton News Record
Thief steals Christmas presents intended for needy kids
OPP officers
and Canadian
Tire step in to
replace gifts
A recent theft of Christmas
presents could have made
for just another sad story
that we sometimes here
about this time of year; how-
ever, this story has a different
ending.
This story started last Fri-
day evening when a kind
and generous local citizen
went out to purchase some
Christmas presents for the
less fortunate children in the
local area. The victim made
several purchases and had
built up a nice collection of
colouring books, craft sup-
plies, board games and toys
all destined for a local
church Christmas toy drive.
The victim needed to get
some batteries for the toys so
she stopped in at the Cana-
dian Tire store in Exeter and
quickly went inside to finish
up her shopping. When she
returned to her vehicle she
realized someone had
entered into her locked vehi-
cle and stole a red plastic bag
that contained all of the
presents.
The victim was under-
standably upset about
what had happened and
the next day she reported
the theft to the Huron
Detachment OPP offic-
ers. Officers took her
report and initiated an
investigation to identify
and apprehend the
thief. It's now one week
into the investigation, and
unfortunately officers
have been unable to iden-
tify a suspect. This isn't
the only update to this
case though.
It turns out the officers
working in Exeter that day
didn't want this woman's
act of kindness to go unno-
ticed. So they each chipped
in some money to purchase
some replacement toys. The
Canadian Tire Store eagerly
matched and even
exceeded the officers'
donation and collectively
they were able to come up
ea ort uronex . ositor.co
with a sizable sack of toys
for the victim.
"It just felt like the right
thing to do. She was trying
to do something great at
this time of the year, and
we didn't want someone
to take that away from
her. We knew those toys
were destined for the less
fortunate and we wanted
to make sure that still hap-
pened," commented
Huron County OPP Pro-
vincial Constable Jason
Richardson.
Yesterday afternoon,
Huron OPP officers met the
victim at the Canadian Tire
store and were able to sur-
prise the victim with an
assortment of toys and
sporting goods. The unsus-
pecting victim was left nearly
speechless; however, the
smile on her face and the
tears in her eyes said it all.
Anyone with information
regarding this crime is asked
to contact Huron OPP at
1-888-310-1122 or (519) 524-
8314. Should you wish to
remain anonymous, you
may call Crime Stoppers at
1 -800 -222 -TIPS (8477),
where you may be eligible to
receive a cash reward of up
to $2,000.
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CITRUS TRUCKLOAD SALE
SEAFOR!H
Friday, December 16th-1130pm-1:30pm
Seaforth Agricultural Society
FloridaFlorida
1
Seedless 40 Ruby Red 35
Navel Oranges 20 LB BOX Grapefruits 20 LB B0X
www.indianriverdirect.com
File photo
Gift Cards
Hair Care
Body Lotions
Jewelry, Scarves
SALON & DAY SPA
4 Main Street, Seaforth • 519-527-1783