^ o fc u & a l) S v o v OAKVILLE-CENTRE T he P erfect S e l e c t io n C o m fort of and T h eO a k v il l eB e a v e r W Vol.37 No. 139 x k e n d Oakville's Award-Winning Community Newspaper ^ Prudential T o w n C e n t r e K e a lU 3 3 8 .6 5 5 0 . * * + 1 0 (J Z h y t U u * * * * * $FJIYI£$ n3« J >1 t r n L_J r f C o n v e n ie n c e (905) 842-5000 A Metroland Publication H P C IN K R IS SALES REP 32 Pages SUNDAY, N O V E M B E R 2 1 ,1 9 9 9 75 Cents Plus GST Why did four people die? I n q u e s t fa ils t o c o m e u p w i t h a n s w e r B y K im A m o tt SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Despite more than six days of testimony and evidence from expert witnesses, a coroner's inquest still can't explain exactly why four seemingly healthy people died in an Oakville house fire without making any obvious attempt to escape. "The overwhelming mystery in all of this remains effectively unsolved, and may remain for ever unsolved," said Douglas "We needed one m ore Carr in his final submissions to m iracle th a t night. We the jury. needed those people to Carr, the assistant town solic be w a itin g fo r us a t the itor representing the Oakville fire department at the inquest, fro n t o f the house w hen told jurors firefighters did their the first fire tru ck "level best" to rescue the four arrived. Tragically, th a t victims of the blaze before they n ig h t w e ran o u t o f were overcome by smoke and m iracles. " toxic gases in the two-storey -- Assistant town solicitor home on Salvator Boulevard. When firefighters pulled Lynn Douglas Carr Fedoruk, 44, her children Adam, 15, and Amanda, 12, and her visiting cousin Bonnie Letchuk from the August 1998 fire, none of the four had vital signs. Despite resuscitation efforts, all were pronounced dead in the hospital shortly afterwards. The inquest's five jurors have now been charged with making recommendations aimed at preventing similar tragedies from occurring in the future. The various parties to the inquest, representing police and fire services and the Fedoruk family, provided jurors with 22 sug gested recommendations to consider, Jurors may amend, delete or add to that list during their delib erations, which will continue Monday. (S e e ` F ire ' p a g e 1) Photo by Barrie Erskine H E R D R E A M C A R : Helen Tulloch of Oakville sits behind the wheel of her new BMW Z3 "James Bond" convertible as Darryl Budd, of Budds' BMW 2400 South Service Road hands her the keys to her new car. The great grandmother won the car in the Oakville Great Dream Home Lottery's Early Bird Draw on Nov. 12th. Tickets for the Dream Home Lottery are all sold o u t The Grand Prize Draw for Mattamy WideLot Dream home at 2337 Oakhaven Drive in Upper Glen Abbey will be held on Dec. 3rd. Oakville Transit buses will keep running B y H o w a rd M o z e l OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF An Oakville Transit strike has been averted. Both negotiating teams - from the Town and CAW Local 1256 - bar gained well intQ Thursday evening to reach a tentative agreement and avoid a strike. "I feel great that we established bet ter standards for the membership with out impacting the public," stated CAW Local 1256 chair Willie Lambert. That said, Lambert explained that it was time for the union to take a hard line position with the Town and stand its ground. Town Manager Harry Henderson Update..7 j in s id erTM Focus 9 Health 11 Family.................. 10 Oakville Blades... 13-20 Trave*.................. 22 Sports............23-24 Business.................25 Classified....... 26-31 Sean (2), Wal-Mart, Partial Delivery: The Bay, Smart Source, Solarex, Sears Whole Home, Japan Camera, Keene Guardian, Home Outfitters, Warehouse and Outlet, Paul Mason, W im py's Pharma Plus C anadian P ublications M ail P roduct A greem ent #435-201 said he is also happy with the outcome. "I'm pleased that this settlement will ensure Oakville Transit riders are not inconvenienced and that transit ser vices will continue," he said. The deal goes to Town Council on Monday night for ratification. Union workers vote on the contract at 9 a.m. Sunday at the Country Squire and Lambert is optimistic workers will see the strides his bargaining team has made. "(The membership) will figure we did an excellent job on their behalf," he said. Just last Sunday union members voted 86% in favour of a strike if nec essary. There has never been an Oakville Transit strike, although workers were locked out in 1979. The union would have been in a legal strike position as of 12:01 a.m. on Mon., Nov. 22nd. At press time, Lambert said that he could speak about the new deal only in generalities, but explained that im provem ents were m ade over a "broad swath" of issues. These include wages and benefits, hours of work and conditions o f employment. "All the day-to-day things people gripe about," said Lambert. "It was a real comprehensive negotiation for a new collective agreement." CAW Local 1256 represents approximately 85 workers, including drivers, maintenance staff, mechanics and cleaners. A collet For the Crafter on Your List! 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