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GeorgetownActon Wednesday Aug Firefighters night to put out another devastating fire Continued from page 1 there is no indication of this Tire being related to another fire in the same building a few weeks ago At that tunes according to fire department records someone tossed a burning bag of garbage into the left front door of the house it was extinguished by a resident Another fire last September which destroyed a large shed at the house next door was officially ruled as arson but there Is no indication this is related either police say Ire trap The Millers had lived In the house for about a year and a half and Mr Miller had been heard on many occasions expressing fears the bouse was fire trap Kathy Wears was staying overnight with Terry They had been friends since the Wears moved to town in April according to the deceased girls stepfather Gerry Brouillard and McKenzieSmlth teacher Kathy Sanford Miller body was found in the kitchenliv room area and removed from the building about 2 am Coroner Macintosh declared him dead at the scene It vas not until about a m that fire fighters received word another person was still missing Reentry into the house un covered the body of Kathy also in the kit room area Firefighters were exhausted fighting the difficult Because several additions have been made over the years the building is partitioned off making it hard to get at the flames Some parts of the metal roof had metalontopofmetal they said Usually fire like this firefighters try to ventilate the roof to create a chimney effect but this lime the roof was not stable enough to do so The stairway leading to the second floor was burned away and they could not get the up per floor Trees overhanging the roof were in the way also hampering fire fighting at tempts Sunday morning fire reminded some of the firefighters of the Thompson Fuel fire in February when a tanker truck of oil shot flames hundreds of feet in the sky and gut led the building in which it was parked I lames in the St fire could be seen against the night sky throughout most of Ac ton Sunday and many saw the lames or smoke before they reached the firehall justaroundthecornerfromUiefire Third fire this year It was the third time in less than six mon ths the men were called to a dangerous blare and the second in time five weeks It was also the third fatal fire here since April 1979 taking a total of five lives Canada Day weekend Acton was mar red by a devastating blaze which gutted apartments above Thomas Video and badly damaged machines and video discs It is about a half a block from Sunday fire and as of yet there has been no official cause determined Several firefighters were taken to hospital suffering mainly from heat exhaustion in the over 90 degrees temper ature during the blaze None were seriously injured however Some firefighters suffered cuts and bruises in Sunday fire Big crowd watches A neighbor to the destroyed house Laura Dennis left her home immediately and spent the evening with a friend up the street Gene Miller is hero dies in rescue attempt Miller and an overnight guest Kathy Wears died of smoke inhalation early Sunday morning as fire ripped through his home at 1G Willow SI His brother Stan Miller said that whenever his brother visited him he men tioned how he wanted to move because the semidetached house he lived in was a fire trap although he never mentioned any specific faults Gene Miller moved to about one a half years ago from Colttwater He had been on a disability pension for some yean as the result of a back injury and was often seen sitting at the front of his house Sian Miller told the Free Press Gene daughter Terry aid there was a poof and then flames wen coming through the floor boards He stressed though that this not official and noted the Ontario Fire Marshal office is investigating He under stands three members of the family were asleep and three awake at the time of ho fire Miller said It is not known for sure whe his brother had escaped from the building and ran back in to rescue or not The Ha ton Regional Police and the Hills Fire Department are unable to confirm or deny this rumor and Miller said he is unable to find out from his brothers family However he Gene did help his v ife and daughters escape through In all four people escaped the flames Miller wife Gloria daughters Terry and Stephanie and a niece Caroline of Speyside A son Timothy had been visiting relatives out of town at the time of the blaze Mr Miller In survived by his wife Gloria daughters Terry and Stephanie son Tim brothers Stanley Tom Michael Alb Robert Ken David Ralph and Lloyd and listers Eileen Dorothy Brazier Donna McDonald Brooks and Betty Quarne Funeral service was held yesterday Tuesday afternoon at Shoemaker Funeral Home Interment was at Cemet Fund established to aid Miller family A Miller family trust fund has been established in Acton and by Tuesday morning there was raised Rev Gerald Knox Presby Church took it upon himself to start the drive He a urging churches citizens bus and community organizations to contribute Donations can be made to the fund at the Bank of Montreal Acton Social Services and Information Centre on Mill SI or Knox Church office Rev noted the family is in a desperate situation since they lost all of their household belongings Mr Miller was on a disability pension and the bene fits won I be switched over to his widow for three months Currently the family is living with rela lives in Speyside but Rev served they will have to establish a new household The Millers lost everything and there was no insurance on the furniture They are destitute They will have to a home and if you think of it buying furniture appliances drapes and every thing else Is an enormous cost The fund is basically for new furniture Rev said and he s confident if put themselves in the Miller family place they will see and late the desperate situation calling on the community to demonstrate its generosity concern for one neighbor and humanity by con Gene Miller lost his life after reenter lag bis burning resid ence apparently save lives The fa mi ly had lived In Acton for about IB months He had told his brother Stan that be wanted to move fear Ing the house was a fire trap Mr Miller wear his familiar Ex ball cap sitting on the porch of the Kathy Wears was easy- go- lucky Wears was an girl until her luck ran out according to her stepfather Gerry Brouillard Fourteen yearold Kathy and her best friends father Gene Miller died early Sunday morning of smoke inhalation as fire ripped through the Miller home at Willow St N and Terry Miller also 14 were very good friends says Mr and were always staying overnight at each others homes The two were constantly together he said A- recent graduate of Middle School Kathy would have been in grade 9 at Acton High School next month She moved to Kinghom with her family last April from Thunder Bay was the daughter of Fay and the late Douglas Wears and stepdaughter of Mr She is the sister of Janet Donald and Diane all of Acton and the granddaughter of Burnis and the late Marshall Fowler and Luke and Gwen Wears all of Thunder Bay Funeral service was held at Shoemaker funeral Home yesterday Tuesday morning followed by cremation A memorial service will be held Friday in Thunder Bay Interment will be at Mountain View Cemetery Thunder Bay Georgetown crew at Willow blaze It just the Acton firefighers who worked so hard at the killer house fire on St for six hours Sunday morning A crew and fire truck came up to help from Georgetown and did a fine job Other neighbors watched from their home and in spite of the late hour many people lined Willow St towatchtheactlon The surviving members of the Miller family remained at the hospital during the fire police say Occupants of the other apartments in the building have found temporary homes No names of these people v ere released Police say there is no yet on if there ill be a coroner s inquest A small black and gray cat with a red col turned up at the nearby Free Press building later Sunday By Monday evening a temporary home w as found for her until her owner claims her It is thought the cat was living in the downstairs apartment She can 1337 The entrance to the north half of the house showing the burned steps and debris wort at the Middle of the flaw of like Wtttow SL bone was destroyed by fire early mm-