The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

= CRIME RESIDENT CHARGED WITH ARSON BY NEGLIGENCE FOLLOWING FIRE cal to 205 Queen Mary Dr. shortly af- ter 9 a.m. for reports of a fire within one of the high- rise's units. That fire was extin- guished, but not before causing around $150,000 worth of damage, police No one was injured. Halton Police Media Re- lations officer Steve Elms said the occupant of the unit had previously been warned about the unit be- ing kept ina manner which constituted a fire hazard. Oakville Deputy Fire Chief Rajgopalan said fire crews who worked to 'o extinguish the fire in the unit were "met with condi- tions that were consistent with hoardi A 59-year- old Oakville man was arrested the same day of the fire near Trafal- A Halton The nen’s Place iraham Paine/ Metroland Firefighters battle a fire on the 16th floor of a Queen Mary Drive high-rise apartment building. gar Park Community Cen- tre. He was charged with arson by negligence and failing to comply with pro- bation. The charges have not been proven in court. — with files from Bam- bang Sadewo 1 tit Gala Live and Silent Auction & Dinner SATURDAY, FEB 25 | OAKVILLE CONFERENCE CENTRE insidehalton.com Buy Tickets: bit.ly/HWP-BUY $225/Ticket | Cocktail Reception - 5:30pm | Dinner - 7:00pm IBNEWS FIREFIGHTERS CREDITED WITH SAVING TEEN DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com Oakville firefighters are being credit saving the life of a ‘ year: nh girl after a blaze broke out at a residence on Wednesday, ats ‘around 9:45 a.m., an 11-year-old child at a Mans- field Drive home called 911 after waking up to discover smoke throughout the dwelling, said Deputy Fire Chief: Kalpana Rajgopalan. en we arrived on scene, our firefighters were met with visible flames and heavy smoke coming from the rear of the home,” she said. "The fire was in basement." While Rajgopalan noted the mother of the family had managed to get eight of her children out of the house by the time firefight- rs arrived, a 17-year-old girl, who had a room in the basement, hat en, trapped by the flames. "The fire was apparently right outside her door," said Raj- gopalan. Deputy Fire Chief Dan Boyer said the fire was spreading quickly and fire crews on the scene had to think fast. "The first-in crew determined where she was and were able to break a window and literally pull that occupant out," he said. her rescue. Boyer said she r and four ofher family mem- rial Hospital over smoke in- halation concerns. All were later released. The fire was quickly extinguished; how- ever, damage to the proper- ty is estimated at $50,000. While Oakville Fire Chief Paul Boissonneault said he is extremely proud of the work of his firefight- ers, he noted it was con- cerning to find there were no working smoke alarms within the dwelling. “If it wasn't for the quick actions of our crew imme ately upon arrival at that scene and a very fast re- sponse time, we'd be deal- ing with a recovery versus the rescue of a 17-year-old ary every level of a home and outside every sleeping area is the law and provides the early warning that can mean the difference be- tween life and death, "We were within minutes of hav- ing an absolute Moderant outcome,” he said. "I can't stress enough the impor- tance of working smoke alarms and an effective home escape both face charges related to the absence of working smoke alarms. We will be offering traditional Buckwheat and Blood Sausages as well as Bujta Repa (Pickled Turnip Stew) See us on ©