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Boat fire proves shocking experience for couple GREGGCHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca filled soon after a pleasure cruise the previ- ous day.
“If it (tank) had been half full, we wouldn’t be here today,” he said, noting that the gas fumes could have resulted in a complete boat explosion and not just a fire. The Dawsons had taken their 22-foot Bar- etta out on July 1 for a Canada Day cruise near Montebello on the Québec side of the Ottawa River. The 22-year-old and its 12-year-old motor performed well that day and the couple returned home to Clarence Point later in the day. The following Monday they and their son set out from the Dawson’s home dock at 3 p.m., intending to take a cruise upriver. Tim Dawson was seated in the captain’s chair and the boat was idling along the shoreline westward upstream before turning out into the main channel in the direction of Rock- land. Tim pushed down on the throttle and chaos followed. “There was a large bang from the cutty area,” said Barry Dawson. “The doors that were locked blew off.” The cutty is a cabin area located near the bow of the boat. At almost the same time as an explosion blew out the cutty doors and grabbed the full attention of the Dawson trio, they heard another bang behind them. The sun pad, located towards the stern, be- hind the back seat of the boat, also blew out and a fire began to burn. “Witnesses (from shore) told us it went up 15 to 20 feet in the air,” Barry Dawson said. “The flames were six-feet high in the back area.” Right then is when all three of the Daw- sons jumped into the river. “We swam like hell,” Barry Dawson said. Other boaters on the river raced over to help the Dawsons out of the river and get them away from the burning boat. The OPP, paramedics, and Rockland fire fighters ar- rived on the scene. By then the burning boat had run aground on a sand bar. Fire fighters went out in their rescue boat to make sure the burned out boat was secure on the sand bar. The hair on the back of Suzanne Dawson’s hair was singed but other than that, the three escaped injury, though Suzanne and Barry confess to being shaken up by the ex- perience. Barry Dawson said the boat was well- maintained. What caused the explosion will remain unknown as there is little left in the wreckage to offer clues. Alfred-Plantagenet| A summer informa- tion meeting about a proposed land-use zoning change near the village of Planta- genet promises to be a “hot topic” session if some area residents have their say. A July 16 evening meeting is scheduled at the community recreation centre in Al- fred. The subject is a proposal for a zoning change to a property located along County Road 17 near the Jessup’s Falls Bridge from its present rural designation to mineral ag- gregate resource. The change is needed to allow a proposed asphalt plant to set up on the site. Several residents have already expressed concern about the proposal, with the focus on the potential truck traffic in and out of the site and the impact on the Jessup’s Falls Escarp- ment area, which is classed as an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI). Asphalt plant proposal
Clarence Point | They are still shaken by their experience but Barry and Suzanne Dawson are trying to put behind them now the boat fire that brought their Cana- da Day long weekend jaunt on the Ottawa River to a sudden and fiery end. “Thank God all our neighbours came out with their boats and seadoos and got us out of the water,” said Suzanne Dawson, 67. Barry Dawson, 71, observed that he and his wife, and their son, Tim Dawson, 44, are lucky that the boat’s gas tank had been re-
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