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4 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 21, 2000 Intense blaze destroys restaurant, apartments RIK DAVIE/PORT PERRY STAR A youngster is comforted by his father Sunday. The family watched as their apartment, including all their possessions, went up in flames. The cause of the fire at the Water St. building is under investigation. Fund quickly established aeons anna ase SRLS TE BE nad - - IT Tad for victims of Sunday fire By Rik Davie Special to the Star The fire that destroyed the historic Port Perry Dairy building on Water St. Sunday morning has left two families homeless - but not without friends. Even as flames still shot from the roof of the structure - and as firefighters com- forted a young resident of the building with a teddy bear and a blanket - the owner and employees of the Waterfront Cafe and the Parkside Bar and Grill had set up a donation box to help the fire vic- tims rebuild their lives. None of the residents of the upper floor apartments were home at the time of the blaze, but all have lost most of their possessions. Firefighters managed to save two birds from one apartment before walls of smoke and flame ham- pered their efforts. "We just wanted to do something as quickly as possible to help (the fami- lies)," said one long-time employee. The two businesses are located next to the fire scene and were, for a time, in danger from the blaze themselves. While one employee busied herself making free coffee for police and emergency workers, another had fashioned a dona- tion jar to be put on display in the coffee shop located at the corner of Water and Mary. A family of four - a father, mother and two young sons - and a woman, all well known to employees and patrons of the two businesses, will be without homes or personal belongings as a result of the fire that destroyed the building that began it's long life as a blacksmith shop around 1911. In 1954 the building, which then housed the Port Perry Dairy, was struck by fire but not destroyed. A woman who lived in the building was being cared for by relatives. Meanwhile, the young family found an immediate friend in Teddy Xidos. He told The Star he had arranged for accommodations for the family until friends and relatives could be contacted. "| just made sure there was a place for them to go," he said. "I arranged immedi- ate accommodations, that's all. It had to be done." Employees are asking those with donations of food, clothing, household items or cash to drop them off at the Waterfront Cafe. Anyone wishing to assist, or remain anonymous, can call Sharon at 085-6640 and Shirley at 985-1961. A i Sv " The fire destroyed the rear of the building and the roof," GWAR al Fire Marshal identifies arson as cause of blaze From page 1 day at that time and, at approximately 11:10 a.m, she turned on the oven in the southwest corner of the build- ing so it would come up to (baking) temperature. She then went to the office," said Const. Al Robins. "A short while later she heard a loud bang and when she looked out a window to the rear of the building she could see smoke and flames coming out of the upper rear portion of the roof." The woman alerted two other employees of the fire and they left the building, say police. The trio checked the two upper apartments, and found that no one was home at the time. "It is estimated that damage will exceed $500,000. said Const. Robins. When officers arrived on scene Sunday, Scugog Fire Department firefighters were already battling the blaze. Chief Richard Miller said his men arrived at 11:10 am. and managed to bring the blaze under control around 1:40 p.m. The fire consumed the west end of the building and did considerable damage to the west apartment and the roof structure of the building, the chief said. "When we arrived the back porch was fully involved and it spread into the west (rear) apartment," he said Monday morning. "It spread more through the roof because of the way it was built, because of the space between the roof joists... it progressed from the west to the east, from the back to the front, because of that type of construction." A total of 33 firefighters and four trucks responded to the scene of the fire, including three trucks from the Port Perry station and one from Caesarea. Another truck from Caesarea was placed on standby at the Port Perry hall. Durham Regional Police officers had Water St. blocked off at the Queen and Mary St. intersections and firefighters raced to extinguish the blaze. Large numbers of onlookers made their way to watch the first major fire in Port Perry since the Immaculate Conception Church was completely destroyed in a spectacular blaze in May 1998. Anyone with information on the fire is asked to call Durham Regional Police at 579-1520, or Crime Stoppers at 436-8477. UU iO ARR