Fire foll _ FROM PAGE AT — For McDonald, the fire was literally a nightmare come true. “I have dreamed about that fire over the past 25 years and that fire turned out exactly how I dreamed about it,” he told the News. “I always thought it would start in a centre building and have always unconsciously worried about that building.” . a The problem was that the - building complied with the fire codes of the day back when it was constructed in the late 1940s and did not legally require upgrading since there were no major structural changes made. The only reason buildings east of the former Collegiate store were not burned was because of a fire wall in- stalled there. A major investigation of the fire has been launched and although the cause is.as yet undetermined, Mc- Donald says he is treating it as “a suspicious fire”, a term which includes arson. The construction of premises on the block was responsible for the fire flaring up again. un- controllably after firefighters thought they had suc- cessfully knocked down the blaze, at about 10:30 p.m. “We had the fire isolated and I was really pleased with the firefighters,” McDonald told the News. “But un- beknown to anyone the fire was progressing through a space between two false ceilings.” Explosives expert Darryl Chvala, who is on Mc- Donald’s staff. set two dynamite charges to blow dgwn the inside ceilings so firefighters could reach the blaze. By this time, the store where the fire started had been destroyed. “I allowed Collegiate to burn to the ground in an altempt to save other buildings.” McDonald said. The store was already engulfed in flames when the fire department had been called. Overhead hydro lines were an additional problem lee owed d evi i poles and lines were on fire and the power was not turned off for the first 45 minutes of fire fighting, making it impossible for the fire department to use an aerial ladder. RCMP officers constantly had to move back throngs of spectators who gathered and estimate the fire was wat- ched by well over 1,000 people. Several people were arrested for obstruction after failing to heed police of- ficers’ instructions, two men were appkehended for looting from one of the burning antique stores and another was arrested on a charge of maliciously damaging a police car. However, McDonald is generally delighted with the behavior of the public and considers the RCMP did “a magnificent job” in main- taining crowd control, aided by West Vancouver police. Bystanders bought food and gave it to firefighters and McDonald said one North Van resident, Don Seymour, went to Mc- Donald’s to buy food for the whole fire crew but the restaurant gave him meals free of charge for the firefighters. In addition, volunteer members of the North and West Vancouver Rescue program set up a food wagon for the firefighters and Dino's Pizza also sent down complementary meals. McDonald said the firefighters were given everything they wanted and was clearly touched by the community response. At the same time the event was Virtually a party as far as many of the onlookers were concerned. News reporter Pat Rich who was at the scene late commented: “People were down there in shorts, drinking beer and it was just like a great tourist event.” Rich became badly in- jured while running to calla News photographer during an intense stage of the fire. He fell and broke both arms and badly cut his face. Rich, who was sent home after reams turning up to- werk the following day, may have to have a bone in his right arm removed because the bone was so badly splintered in the fall. Damage from the fire had not been assessed by News press time, although the RCMP were describing it as ‘“‘damage of major proportions.” Two of the three antique stores burned out in the fire were uninsured and_ the owner of the third is un- certain whether the _ in- surance on her store will be sufficient to cover the loss, especially since a new supply of antiques had just been delivered from England. One of the spectators in the crowd commented that only a few days earlier his bank had rejected a loan application he had made to take over one of the stores. Denny Mansell, owner of Denny's antiques, told the News the following day he had no imsurance covering the $30,000 worth of an- tiques destroyed in the fire. An adjacent store, Aurora Antiques, had only been purchased by Aurora Watson within the previous two weeks. Dennis Watson, husband of the owner, told the News the day after the fire: “My wife was going to put in- surance on today — but that is a day too late.” He said of the situation: “That's the way life goes. It won't break us but it makes us a little sad. It’s sad to see all those antiques burned up — they are so hard to replace.” Forests touch the lives of all Canadians... . we on ‘N ww ee THINK FORESTS Summer Sale OFF O0%-50% Jump-sults, beach cover-ups, hostess gowns, negligee sets and more. Sale Starts Monday, August 10 peanne 979 Park Royal - South Mall dorse 922-2644 All - Sunday News, August 9, 1981 eh MANAGING A SMILE in spite of her misfortune, antique dealer Betty Gracey Bridger was pleased that some of her prized ceramics had escaped destruction in the fire which gutted her store. 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