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

Vol. 116 No. 16 Wednesday, March 17, 1982 32 Pages Combustion Suspected Warehouse ravaged in $1.5 million fire Investigators suspect that spontaneous combustion in bags of charcoal was the cause of a major fire last week which destroyed the warehouse and offices of Gerry's Produce on Scugog Street in Port Perry. The loss of the building and contents was total, and owner Gerry Jonkheer told the Star Monday he believes damage may reach $1.5 million. He said insurance will cover much of the loss, and already he is making plans to re-build his warehouse on the property. He said for the time being he will continue to operate his business using separate buildings on the property, and his 35 employees should be back on . Residents win battle, reject asphalt plant It appears as if residents of south-west Scugog Township have won their battle to halt a proposed asphalt plant on the south side of Concession Road One, about a mile west of Highway 12. Both the Durham Region planning department and the Regional -council's planning committee have recom- mended that the application by Beamish Construction for the plant be denied. The full Durham council will deal with the application Officlals believe that spontaneous combustion in spectacular fire, which raced through the warehouse at its regular meeting in Whitby today (March 17) and it is expected that council will go along with the recommendations that the plant not be allowed. The Region's planning department received almost 150 objections to the plant from residents living in the immediate and surrounding area. Letters from some of the objectors cited increased truck traffic on the Con- "session Road and potential (Turnto page 3) bags of charcoal may have been the cause of the the job this week. The fire broke out about 4:50 in the afternooh last Thursday in the centre area of the warehouse near the main loading ramps. According to fire officials, Ben Vanderzwet, general manager of the company tried to put the blaze out with a fire extinguisher, but thick smoke soon drove him and other employees out of the building. Flames worked their way through to the east part of the building, and later to the west half of the building which contains the offices. Mr. Jonkheer said almost all his company records were lost and some recently purchased computer equip- ment. The warehouse was filled with a variety of goods and products including bags of charcoal, candies, fireplace logs, butane lighters, cans of bar-b-q lighter fluid, fruit and vegetables. During the height of the fire it was feared the flames would spread to a repair (Turnto page 8) and office building. Despite the efforts of three fire departments and more than 50 men, fire last Thursday completely destroyed the warehouse of Gerry's Produce on Scugog Street. Damage could reach $1.5 million. Inside the Star World Famous Musician Page 2 Tots Enjoy Nursery School Page 10