The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

125th Year No. 41 Fire marshall says By Geoff Hoile .Chroniclo staff writer The notion of a torch running loose in the (Waâ€" terloo)} downtown area is abâ€" solutely â€" groundless There‘s no basis for that at No basis for Waterioo torch theory Business 14 Sports 18â€"26 Community Calendar Comment 6 Columns 7 UW Mech Maniacs captian holds the great barrel race trophy in a victory gesture after his team set a new world record of 29.5 seconds for the 100 km event. The Maniacs beat last year‘s champion OW Sports team by .7 seconds in the final. Inside We are the champions all Waterloo Region‘s fire marshall. Don Reeds,. in an interview yesterday criâ€" ticized members of the media who have contributed to a theory that six fires in Waterloo‘s downtown area 4 Wednesday, October : 10, 1979 31 between May 7 and Oct. 3 this year were the work of a single arsonist ‘‘Speculation only causes unnecessary concern among the public.‘ he said. ‘"The fires have broken out in locked and secure buildings to suggest that it is the work of some idiot that‘s come out of the woodwork is dangerous. It‘s likely to give some loony the idea.‘" The fire marshall explained that of the six downtown Waâ€" terloo fires. two were acâ€" cidental â€" having been the result of faulty electrical wiring â€" in another two cases charges have been laid and two others are under investigation Waterloo Fire Chief John Staller does not view the current "rash of fires‘" in the downtown area as an inâ€" dication of increasing arson in the city. ‘"They are seâ€" parate instances:. we‘re not looking for one person," he said. "We have one on trial and one awaiting trial." The real tragedy of the major fire is the unemployâ€" ment it causes, according to Chief Staller. "You have a loss of taxes. a blight on the streetscape and people are out of work. That‘s the bad part of it." These members of the Queensway Auto Body team were well on their way to apparent victory when the OW Sports barrel rollers edged them at the finish in the semiâ€"final event. ts l Nesn io Re in e 0 ‘mi s 14. ?.‘:?mm.‘- oA > .‘s mhbeggyt * [ £x*2 wiera w0 s t Nn ol Oe & Roll out those barrels Fire Prevention Officer Bob Beckett blames some police and fire department officials for making official announcements to the local media "based on hearsay inâ€" formation .‘ Waterioo, Ontario Investigators have ‘‘chased down a dozen wild stories®"‘ during the inquimnes that followed recent downâ€" town fires. said the fire marshal. ‘"People will say (Continued on page 2) 15 Cents 3 Saye ES Ahrg