The Creemore
ECHO
Friday, December 2, 2022 Vol. 22 No. 48
www.creemore.com
News and views in and around Creemore
INSIDE
On Stage
The Last Christmas Turkey PAGE 3
Publications Mail Agreement # 40024973
Help firefighters "Fill the Wagon" Creemore Firefighters invite the community to help “fill the wagon” at Friday’s tree lighting. Firefighters will be accepting donations of toys, gift cards, along with food donations of soup, crackers, bread stuffing, Christmas cookies, Christmas cake, pretzels, potato chips, nut-free snacks, chocolate, tangerines, apples, drinking boxes, juice, canned pop, and prepackaged bags from Foodland. Cheques in support of the Creemore food bank must be made out to St. Luke’s Anglican Church Discretionary Fund, and designate the donation for the food bank. Donations of $20 and more are eligible for a tax receipt.
107 people charged with child exploitation Dave Dillon photo
Tenants were evacuated during an early morning fire at 157 Mill St. Thursday, which caused extensive damage to all six apartments and a restaurant.
Fire causes heavy damage to historic building by Trina Berlo A fire broke out at 157 Mill St. in Creemore early Thursday morning, displacing several residential tenants and the one restaurateur. A resident living above Home Hardware called in the fire at 1:41 a.m. and began knocking on doors to alert tenants to the fire, although the fire alarms were working. The building is the current location of La Cucina restaurant, but once housed the Sovereign Restaurant and is one of Creemore’s historic commercial buildings. Clearview Township Acting Fire Chief Scott Davison said when crews arrived firefighters found fire on the main floor of the restaurant and out the side of the building. He said the fire extended up into the second and third floor. Davison said the cause of the fire is
still under investigation. High winds fanned the fire causing it to progress quickly, he said, resulting in a collapse of the centre part of the roof. Three stations and an aerial truck from Collingwood were called in to fight the fire. Crews remained on site Thursday morning, using chainsaws and axes to gain access to smouldering fires in the walls. “With fires of this size, you have to let them sit for a little bit to see if the fire starts up again and put out the hot spots,” said Davison. He said due to the cold temperatures, the water has frozen and once it starts to thaw, the fire could start to smoke again. Firefighters remain on scene to keep watch. “It was a very stubborn fire and there are a lot of apartments,” said Davison. “A great job by firefighters.”
Tenants from the six apartments had already escaped the building when firefighters arrived, but three cats had to be removed from one of the units. Davison said all of the apartments have sustained very heavy damage, making the building uninhabitable. The fire is not suspicious but investigators from the Fire Marshal’s office were called to investigate due to the size and the estimated dollar value of the fire. La Cucina chef Otta Zapotoky was alerted to the fire by a fellow business owner knocking on his door in the middle of the night. As of Thursday morning he had no idea how long he would be displaced. Community efforts are underway to support those impacted by the fire. Watch for updates and donation opportunities on The Creemore Echo's Facebook page.
Police have charged 107 people and identified 121 child victims and potential victims during Project Maverick, part of the Provincial Strategy to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation on the Internet. During the month of October, 27 policing partners conducted 255 investigations, executed 168 search warrants and seized 1,032 devices. In total, 428 charges were laid against 107 people, including one unidentified Collingwood man charged with three counts of invitation to sexual touching. During the investigations, 61 victims were identified and referred to appropriate communitybased resources for assistance, while an additional 60 children were safeguarded. There are 175 ongoing investigations where additional charges may be laid. Since the Provincial Strategy began in 2006, it has completed 65,564 investigations and laid 24,608 charges against 6,540 people. A total of 3,470 victims have been identified worldwide. Report instances of online child abuse to police or cybertip.ca. If a child is being harmed, call 911.
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V I EW C U R R E N T L I S T I N G S A T S U Z A N N E L A W R E N C E . C A 2021-09-21-SL-Creemore-Echo.indd 2
21/9/2021 9:23 AM