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Chilliwack teacher charged with luring a child Related story, page 4 Robert Freeman The Progress
Firefighters tend to a townhouse fire on Corbould Street on Saturday afternoon. No one was injured in the fire, but it did claim the life of a dog. To see a video of the fire, go online to theprogress.com. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Teen sounds alarm as townhouse burns The Progress A Chilliwack teenager on his way home Saturday stopped to alert residents to a fire in a townhouse on Corbould Street. Fortunately, no one was home in the unit where the fire started, but a pet dog inside did not survive. “That makes me feel sick,” 19-year-old Michael Thibodeau said when told later about the dog’s fate. “I could hear what sounded like a dog yelping,” he recalled. “I would have gone inside, but the cops wouldn’t let me.” After calling the fire department, Thibodeau started knocking on doors of the two-storey townhouse and helping senior
residents get a safe distance away from the flames. Chilliwack fire officials said no one was injured, and damages are limited to the unit where the fire started at about 4 p.m. “Unfortunately, the (homeowner’s) dog didn’t make it,” Assistant Fire Chief Ian Josephson said. He said the speed of the fire observed by Thibodeau was probably due to windows breaking and drawing oxygen to feed the flames. But firefighters were on the scene just minutes after the fire call, and were able to stop the fire from spreading to neighbouring units. “The guys managed to hold (fire damage) to the one unit,” Josephson said, as a full crew of
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firefighters was already at the An RCMP youth academy main fire hall when the fire call graduate, Thibodeau said his came in. training there probably helped Thibodeau said he had just him keep a cool head in an emerturned onto Corbould Street at gency situation. about 4 p.m. when he saw smoke “I probably wouldn’t have from the fire rising into the sky. reacted the way I did, going to “It was like a huge, black each door to make sure (the resicloud,” he said. dents) were secure,” he said. And by the time he But he believes his reached the townhouse motivation to help othvideo-online] unit, the whole strucers in a crisis would ture was engulfed in www.theprogress.com have been the same. flames. Thibodeau is still “It was almost like interested in a career an explosion,” he said. in policing or corrections, but in Thibodeau said he yelled inside the meantime he’s started up his the burning unit, but no one own business - Michael’s Interior answered, so he called the fire Detailing - and he hopes to soon department and started knocking have enough money saved to on neighbours’ doors, most of put a downpayment on his own house. whom were seniors.
Continued: TEACHER/ p9
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Robert Freeman
A 48-year-old Chilliwack teacher arrested Thursday for allegedly luring a child online was released from custody on strict conditions after a brief hearing in provincial court. Michael Todd Paice is charged under a section of the criminal code dealing with communicating via a computer system with a person under 16, “to facilitate an invitation to sexual interference and/or sexual touching with respect to that person.” No details of the allegations against Paice can be published because of a court-ordered ban on publication. Crown counsel did not oppose the terms of the release, which include a $1,500 surety, a no contact order with four specific individuals, no contact with any females under age 16 and a ban on going to any public places where children under age 16 may be present. Paice is also ordered not to possess a computer, or to have access to the Internet, unless it is under the control of his employer. However, according to Chilliwack schools superintendent Michael Audet, Paice has not been teaching in the district since December, 2011. He could not confirm whether that was due to the charge. Chilliwack RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Tammy Hollingsworth said the police investigation started “several months” ago in 2011, but she could not provide an exact date. Police said there is “no indication that any children have been harmed with respect to this investigation.” “We can appreciate the concern that parents will have after learning this news,” Hollingsworth said in a news release.