The Citizen, 1998-03-25, Page 1Destroyed by fire
An early morning blaze, March 18, leveled a home on Queen Street in Blyth, sending the
occupants, Kyle Sholdice and his mother, Melanie Taggart, (inset) to a neighbouring store to
seek help. Blyth firefighters were on the scene at 7:20 a.m. and remained until 11 a.m.
MCF auction celebrates 10 years of support
Sports
Blyth Bantam, Midget
Bulldogs keep on winning
enroute to OMHA title
See page 6,7
Honoured
Blyth Fire Board and
Dept. honour past chair
for 21 years of service
Business
Auburn welcomes new
business to its main
street
See page 15 See page 17
itize
The North Huron
Citizen staff
70e +Se GST 750 Wednesday, March 25, 1998
Fire destroys home
Mother, son escape
By Janice Becker
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
Through 10 years and more than
$130,000, the Maitland Conserva-
tion Foundation annual dinner and
auction, this year to be held April
17, has helped sustain an important
component of the community.
Acting as host to more than 5,000
visitors each year by encouraging
environmental awareness, the
Wawanosh Nature Centre, Conc.
6/7, East Wawanosh Twp,. has
been the recipient of funds raised
by the charitable foundation which
marks this 10th anniversary.
Held at the Brussels, Morris &
Grey Community Centre, the din-
ner and auction raises between
$12,000 and $15,000 each year to
go towards education programs at
the Nature Centre.
"As the main focus of the foun-
dation, the funds raised support the
largest part of programs at the cen-
tre," says Esther Buck of the Mait-
land Conservation Foundation
(MCF).
Those programs cover a wide
variety of topics for both school
children and their families.
Such subjects as Healthy Streams
Healthy Rivers; Boots, Bubbles and
Bugs; Forest Management; Corn-
Continued on page 19
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
The reality of a North Huron
Police Force got new life recently.
On March 17 at its regular meet-
ing Morris council made a motion
to proceed with an agreement to
purchase police service from the
Wingham Police Service.
The issue has evolved over the
past several months due to provin-
cial downloading of OPP costs to
communities and concerns over
service to rural areas. Since word
was received that municipalites
would pay a specific amount per
household, Wingham Police Chief
Jim Dore has made presentations to
several North Huron councils offer-
All personal items for Taggart,
Kyle, and her daughter, Alix, four,
who was away at the time, were
.lost.
The family also lost all their fur-
nishings including the new pur-
chases of a bed, pots and pans and
a computer acquired through a
training course.
It is hoped content insurance will
help cover some of the loss.
Taggart credits Kyle for saving
both of them. "If I had waited for
the smoke alarm to go off we prob-
ably would not have gotten out. It
rang when we were leaving the
house. The stairs lead into the
kitchen."
As only a child could see such an
event, Kyle. told his mom he would
buy her another house because the
other one was broken.
With two fire-related deaths this
weekend in the Niagara area, and
five or six more in other regions in
the past week, Josling says detec-
tors should be checked monthly,
batteries changed yearly and a new
alarm bought every three years.
Josling reiterates there is now a
law which requires an alarm be
installed on every level of a home.
Though there are currently no fines
for non-compliance, there will be,
he says.
Anyone wishing to donate to
Taggart and her children may drop
off clothing, toys, beds or dressers
at 181 Wellington Street, Blyth,
though she is hoping to move, tem-
porarily, to an apartment in the old
school house on Queen Street
North by the end of the week.
Kyle wears a size four while Alix
needs size six.
Cash donations can be dropped
into a box at the CIBC, Blyth, or
deposited in a fire fund account.
The box will be avaiable for dona-
tions through March while the
account will probably remain open
until the end of April, says Cus-
tomer Service Manager Donna
Longman.
Taggart would also like to thank
all those who have provided sup-
port and help over the last few
days.
ing an alternative.
The only criteria for municipali-
ties to become involved was that
service had to be contiguous from
Wingham. Therefore, while Blyth
was the first to state they were
interested in the formation of North
Huron Police Force, they had to
wait for an adjoining municipality
to agree.
Last month, Turnberry and East
Wawanosh Twps. opted to stay
with OPP service, making Morris
the last chance for not just Blyth,
but Brussels, Grey and Howick as
well.
Following Morris's decision,
Brussels Reeve Ralph Watson said
that while his council had heard
Continued on page 20
Vol. 14 No. 12 As in many tragic events, cir-
cumstances can drastically alter the,
outcome.
Such was the case for Melanie
Taggart and her young son, Kyle
Sholdice, three, when their Queen
Street home in Blyth, went up in
flames, March 18.
"Kyle had been up much of the
night so I shut my alarm off to get a
little extra sleep," says Taggart.
Her alarm had been set to go off
at 6:15 a.m., but when Kyle woke
her at 7:15, telling her there were
explosions, she went downstairs to
find the wallpaper in the kitchen
bursting into flames.
"I grew up with a Dad in the fire
department and yet all those safety
tips went right out of my head."
"I just ran back up the stairs and
grabbed Kyle," she says. The pair
were unable to get coats or boots as
they were stored in the small room
off the kitchen which was already
fully involved.
Taggart ran to the General Store
to make the call to the Blyth Fire
Department which responded at
7:20.
"If the wind had been out of the
north, we would have had a real
problem," say Blyth Fire Chief
Paul Josling, "because the houses
are so close together."
The house, owned by Marg Cald-
well, was rented to Kevin Gross.
Fully involved when the fire-
fighters arrived, they stayed on the
scene until 11 a.m.
After inspection by an investiga-
tor, it was determined the fire was
caused by an electrical failure in
the back of the hydro box, says
Josling. "It started in the wall and
went up through to the attic."
Though Josling says the house is
a total loss, estimated at $50,000,
Taggart hopes a few momentoes
can be salvaged.
One of Kyle's favourite plastic
trucks was recovered with only a
good wash required. A wallet with
pictures and cash still intact was
also found.
N. Huron force gets new life