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SHAWN VAN MERKESTEIN stands morosely in front of his burnedout home Friday after the chaos of a few hours had died down His parents Mr and Mrs Cory Van were admitted to Georgetown hospital with back injuries after jumping from a second floor balcony top of photo to safety The fire broke out in the living room about 3 a m An Acton family had to jump from a second floor balcony to safety early Friday morning as fire swept their home completely gutting it Mr and Mrs Cory Van of Mil St Acton both sustained back Injuries and son Shawn re ceived cuts and bruises during the His parents were rushed by ambulance to Georgetown and District Hospital where Mr Van Merkestein could be forced to stay for up to four weeks Shawn told the Free Press Deputy fire chief Bob Hyde said the fire is believed to have started in the Chester field In the living room Mrs Van he said heard a crackling sound and when she went to the head of the stairs to investigate flames and smoke were racing up the stairs blocking their only exit from the second floor She awoke the rest of the family and colled the fire department a m A passing Regional Police officer Constable John Lyver saw flames and smoke billowing out of the front window and coaxed the family members to Jump to the ground He then placed them In his cruiser Police are grateful to an unknown woman who come by later with blankets for the three to ward off the cold She did not identify herself and police would like to know who she is explained con stable Barry Holland and give her due credit Mr Hyde said the house went up In flames quickly due to the amount of com furniture in the room The blaze could be seen for several blocks against the night sky Fire prevention officer Larry Brassard said if smoke detectors had been in stalled In the house the family may have had more chance of escaping The detectors would also have warned them in time avoided as much damage Mr Hyde said damage Is set at 000 for the house and contents The Ontario Fire Marshal office was called in and both came to the conclusion the cause is unknown although Mr Hyde said careless smoking was considered Halton Regional Police are also Investigating Mill St was cordoned off to traffic as flames reached out as far as the sidewalk Mr Brassard said Spectators aroused by the fire truck and ambulance sirens stayed well away from Acton Volunteer firefighters Firefighters stayed on the scene until when many men had to change and go to work They arc three very very lucky people Mr Brassard said They are lucky they got out or there the house alive Mr Hyde agreed and said he did not know how they got out in time It could have been a real tragedy he said It is the second fire in the same house in the past six months Mr Brassard said It was also the second fire in less than hours on Mill St as firefighters from both Acton and Georgetown battled a blaze in Ellssa Shoe Store Wednesday evening Shawn Van told the Free Press he was living with his girl friend family on Young St but had no Idea where the family would live once his parents were released from hospital He surmised they would bock up north The family restaurant Chicken and Pizza Spot has been kept open by Shawn and others since the fire Mrs Van Merkestein upon her release from the hospital on the weekend went to stay in Port Corling to rest Meanwhile friends of the family are arranging to replace Mr Van Merkestein reading glasses which were lost in the fire so he can read while lying in the hospital bed DESOLATE VIEW OF THE stairway and part of the upstairs hall at the Van home a few hours after fire caused in damages last Friday morning Icicles formed everywhere once the ashes cooled down One Hundred and Third Year No 33 ACTON ONTARIO WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY Twenty Four Pagoj Fifteen Cant Emergency firefighters The Acton Lions Emergency Fund has been established in the Bank of Montreal to aid the families of Cory Van Merkestein and Gojko Cavic who were victims of major fires last week The fund was established during a club meeting Monday evemng and already has a donation of from that club to start it off Anyone wishing to make cash contributions may do so merely by seeing a teller in that bank and depositing the money in the Acton Lions Emergency Fund bank account Any other donations such as furniture or clothing maybe given to Vic He can be reached at 2237 The fund will be used as it is needed goal set for Acton heart fund 100000 damage to Mill St store HOME AT MUX ST was completely gutted by fire early Friday morning Owners Mr and Mrs Cory Van and son Shawn had to jump to safety from the second storey balcony as flames engulfed the stairway to the front door The exact cause of the blaze is unknown Damage is estimated at February Is Heart Month across Canada and Acton is no exception Heart Fund drive Vic said a goal of is set for this year an increase of some over last year He said he Is con he will reach this goal as the town has expanded Because of the extra homes in town Mr pointed out there are canvassers as compared to only last year These people have been out canvassing homes businesses and industries since February I They will have completed the drive by the end of the month Heart disease was the number one killer in Canada in 1974 claiming lives Cancer was in second place with deaths Acton is just a small part of the national fund raising drive aimed at raising nine million dollars this year Ontario Is expected to raise five million dollars of this total The drive is aimed to raise money to fight heart and blood vessel disease and will be used for research only firefighters from and cor get wn battled flames for six hours Wednesday as fire ripped through Shoes on Mill St Acton Damage is set at according to the Hills fire department the Ontario Mar office Firemen were called to the scene at and laced what veteran Bern Van described as the most stubborn fire he had ever been Because of the structure of the rear of the building with a room build within a room tin fire could not be located At first It was contained between the ceilings said frc prevention officer Larry Brassard The firefighters had to cut through the ceiling and the roof in several places to locate the flames and were hampered by thick black smoke The poor ventilation of the building made hard for the men to breathe in spite of their Scott Air Packs Part of the roof at the back of ihe building was in danger of and although no were hurt it further impeded firefighting duties The snow on tin and roof also rmdc it difficult to tut through Mr Brassard said to top everting off everything was getting icy in dud ng the ladders used by the men to climb onto the roof Police had cordoned off the street to traffic and kept spectators out of the way of the firefighters The store has a buzier system connected with the door so that the owners wife Mrs Cavic can stay upstairs in their apart over the store while there are no customers Once someone comes in the door Mr Brassard told the Free Press the sounds and Mrs Cavic goes downstairs Such was the case on Wednesday Mrs Cavic was upstairs with her two children and had gone down stairs to wait on someone When she got down both she and the customer noticed smoke Mr Brassard said Both immediately ran up stairs and got the children Return offer unopened An offer to buy the old pumping station In Acton will be returned unopened to Gordon B realtor who made the offer on behalf of client It will be returned because the town has a policy that all town owned land must be sold by public lender Hills finance- administration committee agreed the offer must be returned but Councillor Peter Marks said the would should be told he was welcome to submit a tender when the land is ad vcrtised and customer phoned the fire department from a nearby store Mr Brassard pointed out if the customer had not come In the three people in the apart ment could have been trapped upstairs or died of smoke inhalation The identity of the man is unknown Mr Brassard said the suspected cause is electrical wiring and the fire could have been smouldering for two or three hours before it was detected First reports of the family being completely burned out were inaccurate Mr Brassard said the fire was contained to the back storage area However he stated the apartment and the store did receive extensive smoke damage but nothing that cannot be cleaned up Merchants have supplied clothing for the family until their own is cleaned up Stock in the back room was destroyed and deputy fire Continued on Page Committee asks independent regional government study A of politicians conceded that formed to study regional government in has deal of credibility He noted recommended an hide- the recommendation was pendent study of regional and voted upon with government in Halton be out quorum and reminded made by a three person task reporters that council had re force The region Bill Com mlltee passed that mendation after spending the entire morning reviewing and finalizing Its own report on the review of regional government in Halton It Is the second time such a recommendation has been made by the Bill Com The first one was rejected by council Several months ago Provincial Treasurer and Minister of Intergovern mental Affairs McKeough rejected a request for such a study by the Acton lana for Action Committee late last year Questioned by reporters following the meeting Councillor Waller Mulkewich aid the action by the com indicated there la more study required than the committee la capable of the same resolution several months ago Mulkewich said the effort of the committee has been a futile exercise Blanket statements have been made and biases have been hurled from both sides He sold the lack of financial and technical data to back up recommendations left the committee without any degree of credibility The study should have been an investigation of local government and Its relation ship to the province and the whole matter of finances he said The province has refused to give local government the tools to do the Job and the committee is flailing around looking for Hills Councillor Miller said regional government Is hard to justify taxes double and he and claimed blamed fallings of regional that had a bearing on in government on local and creased costs regional politicians We are to blame There is He claimed Hills no sense blaming staff he had not reduced staff relative said to the reduction in res- Milton Councillor Jim Watson said the report was laughed at when it was presented but we would have been wise to follow it The report pre pared by Thomas Continued on rage Seek safety check of Acton town hall The Ministry of Labor will recreation department asked be asked to inspect Ihe Acton tor an inspection town hall to determine if it Is Marks suggested safe Tor public use if council agrees to HUls flnanceadmlnlstralm re commendation Councillor Peter Marks said he had read all consul Alan reports be forwarded to the Ministry along with a request for an inspection He said he felt It was necessary to find out if the building is safe for public use The recommendation will and stilt did not knw If the to council next week building Is safe In his Mr Zeegen Who closed down George- said further Inspection of the town arena asked town hall was made during wood rot due to rain water leakage He reported the main roof beams at high level were not bearing on wood post sup ports There is a gap of about one half an Inch Between the bottoms of the posts and the tops of the posts and also a horizontal movement of about one Inch Calculations in dicate the main beams to the roof area are overs tressed The first and second floors Miller the construction of the fire are In good order The ex u tmnltP fire Recreation Director Glen hall addition He said the roof masonry walls are THICK 3 Gray explained it was the structure was in poor con- extensively cracked his attempts Wednesday afternoon asfireravaged Ministry of Labor after the with a great deal of report said through Elissa Shoes on Mill St Some firefighters from both Acton and Geor battled the flames for six hours resulted