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Ask us about bleaching for new patients FREE 905-842-6030 90 MECHANICAL SERVICES dentistoakville.com den AUTO AUTO AU TOPR PRO PR O OA OAKV OAKV KVIL ILLE E 2 2 Wyecroft Road, Oakv 221 kvill ille e SNA NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR 2010 ontario's top newspaper - 2005-2008 Paddling upstream Sports FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2012 autoprooakville.mechanicnet.com 905-469-2442 2 A member of Metroland Media Group Ltd. Vol. 50 No. 102 "Using Communication To Build Better Communities" 96 Pages $1.00 (plus tax) A sign of affection Mother/son saved by smoke alarm By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF An Oakville woman urges residents to test their smoke alarms after surviving an early-morning fire last month. Julie McManus said she and her 17-year-old son, Brian, were both fast asleep in their Miller Road home when the shrieking of the smoke detector woke them at about 2 a.m. on July 30. Julie quickly realized it was not a false alarm when she stepped out of her bedroom and smelled smoke. "I exited from my bedroom, went down a long hallway and banged on my son's door," she said. "We looked towards our kitchen window and could see flames. We went outside and that's when we saw that it was bad. The roof was burning." As Brian and neighbours called 911, Julie grabbed a garden hose, but soon realized any effort to fight the fire on her own would be futile as it spread and quickly engulfed the roof of the house. Julie's husband, Paul, who was in New York City with their 12-year-old son, Andrew, learned of the fire at about 5 a.m. He returned home as fast as he could. "It's everybody's worst nightmare," he said. "I got back and saw the extent of the damage and it was significant." Both Julie and Brian escaped the fire unharmed, however, the home sustained an estimated $200,000-$300,000 worth of damage. Paul said that during a home renovation in 2008, a building inspector for the Town of Oakville had insisted a state-of-the art smoke detector system be wired into the house in such a way that if one goes off, they all go off. Today, Paul and Julie said they are deeply thankful for that system and advised other residents to change smoke detector batteries or replace outdated smoke alarms. "Do it. Don't let it go. I know life gets busy, but...you have no idea," said Julie. Oakville Fire Department Chief Lee Grant has said See Firefighters page 10 ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER / @halton_photog FROM A FURRY FRIEND: Helen Booth, who lives at Revera's West Oak Village Long Term Care centre in Oakville, receives a kiss from friendly canine Jessica. Oakville residents took their dogs to visit West Oak Village as part of an event organized by Nancy Carrier. The Toronto resident said she organized the event to uplift the spirits of seniors in long-term care who no longer have pets in their lives.