Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1979-03-29

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Colombia Building Inspector Charles Scheurich, foreground, orders the building pulled down ac
Furnace cause of fire
at rooming house here
By Clinton BaSer
Mlssourian staff writer
A defective furnace apparently was
the cause of a Wednesday morning fire
that destroyed a rooming house at 308 S.
Ninth St and gutted the attached
Parthenon Steak House, Columbia Fire
Marshal Don Christian said.
A resident of the rooming house said
his landlord ignored repeated warnings
that the home's furnace was defective
and could result in a fire.
Vinod Chandola, a 31- year-- old Uni-versity
doctoral student in nuclear
engineering, told reporters early Wed-nesday
he had confronted his landlord,
George Godas, several times in the past
two months about smoke coming from a
heating duct in his room.
" We've been complaining to George:
Something is burning. Something is
burning in the heater," he said. Godas,
who leases the house and restaurant
from Waters Realty Co., ignored his
warnings, he said.
Godas, who lived in the rooming
house, was away on vacation during the
fire and was unavailable for comment.
Howard Ponder, 34, a resident of the
house, said the smell of the smoke Wed-nesday
morning was different from the
smoke of burned food that previously
had come through his vent.
He said his complaint with Godas was
about the cooking odor and he thought
Godas was trying to relieve the
problem.
As for the furnace, Ponder said it had
broken down at least twice in the past
and that Godas called in a service man
once and fixed it himself once.
Charles Scheurich, the city's building
regulations supervisor, said that while
the city usually goes to the property
owner in response to complaints or vio-lations
of the housing code, many leases
transfer responsibility for compliance
to the lessee.
Henry J. Waters, president of Waters
Realty and publisher of the Columbia
Daily Tribune, said the lease for 306 S.
Ninth St. makes Godas responsible for
the building's interior and that Godas
never told him of a possible faulty
furnace."
Christian said the fire department
had received no complaints about the
building.
An explosion in the furnace ignited
the blaze at about 3: 30 a. m.
The house was destroyed by the fire
and was later torn down.
Fire Chief Girard " Toot" Wren said
damage was estimated at $ 275,000,
based on a replacement price of $ 60 per
square foot and the building's contents.
All six persons in the building escaped
injury.
The Columbia Fire Department put
out four alarms, the city's maximum
response.
The fire was brought under control
about dawn.
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Fire hoses surround the Parthenon Steak House
Fireman plunges to safety
By Clinton Bailer
Mhsocrian staff writer
For several moments Wednesday
morning, Robert Shultz, a 25- year-- old
Columbia firefighter, was believed
dead.
" It's simply a miracle. I don't know
how in the world he got out of it," said
Charlie Hummel, a fellow firefighter
who tried to rescue Shultz and who was
injured in the process.
Shultz, who had been cornered by
flames in the top floor of the three- stor- y,
wood- fram- e rooming house
connected to the rear of the Parthenon
Steak House, 306 S. Ninth St.,' escaped
serious injury by diving out a second- stor- y
window onto a car below.
According to Hummel, Shultz had
climbed a ladder to the third- stor- y
window to open it and allow smoke and
heat to escape. Hummel said the room
was hot and smoky, but no flames were
visible inside.
Shultz climbed through the window,
apparently to open several others in the
room. Hummel said, and was met by
( See FIREMAN, Page 10A)
Radiation leaks
at nuclear plant
still not stopped
HARRISBURG, Pa. ( UPI) A
nuclear power station's cooling system
malfunctioned Wednesday, releasing
radioactive steam and radiation that
could be detected at low levels 10 miles
( 16 kilometers) outside the plant's 4- f- oot
( 1.2- mete- r) walls.
Power company officials said there
apparently was a continuing radiation
leak.
There were no reports of injuries, but
officials were concerned about long- ter- m
effects on the hundreds of
thousands of people who live near the
plant.
In Washington, Sen. Gary Hart, D- Col- o.,
said part of the plant's radiation
problems had been caused by the
mistake of an atomic reactor operator
who apparently turned off a cooling
system too soon at the plant on the
Three Mile Island in the Susquehanna
River 10 miles ( 16 kilometers) south-east
of Harrisburg.
State officials said the radiation did
not reach lethal levels, inside or outside
the plant, but a nuclear safety group in
Washington said radiation inside the
plant was apparently eight times the
- lethal4eveL Officials said there were no
indications that any of the plant em-ployees
had been exposed to the
dangerous radiation levels.
" The levels that were detected were
below any existing or proposed emer-gency
action levels. But we are con-cerned
because any increased exposure
carries with it come increased health
risks," Lt. Gov. William Scranton HI
said at a news conference.
" The full impact on public health is
being evaluated as environmental
samples are analyzed. We are con-cerned
most about radioactive iodine,
which can accumulate in the thyroid
either through breathing or through
drinking milk."
A plant official said the source of the
suspected continuing radiation leak had
not been found.
" What I suspect is that there is a
small breach in the system that is
allowing some small quantity, on a
continuing basis, to be released into the
atmosphere," said Richard Klinga- ma- n,
an official of Metropolitan Edison
Co., part owner of the power station.
Klingaman, an engineer who once
was superintendent of the power
station, said the company would con-tinue
to investigate the source of the
leak, which was suspected to have
occurred 16 hours after the accident.
Carl Abraham, spokesman for the
U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
said the latest readings showed
radiation levels up to IS millirems per
hour compared to 0.01 millerms per
hour normally released by the plant.
Slight increases in radiation levels
were recorded 10 miles ( 16 kilometers)
away in Harrisburg.
Scranton said officials of Met- E- d told
state experts the company had released
radioactive steam from the plant after- -
the accident because of potentially
dangerous pressure in the reactor
chamber.
He said the radioactive steam was
released by the company between 11
a. m. and 1: 30 p. m.
Scranton said the state was
" disappointed" because Met- E- d of-ficials,
who had declared a general
emergency after the accident, did not
notify the state Department of Environ-mental
Resources about the later
release of radioactive steam.
Lung cancer vaccine
works in early test
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. UPI) A
Canadian scientist Wednesday reported
success in using a lung tumor vaccine
to treat early lung cancer and said he
hopes in a few years to try to immunize
high- ris- k people against the usually
fatal disease.
Dr. Thomas H. M. Stewart of the Uni-versity
of Ottawa said 26 people treated
with ' the experimental vaccine
following surgery are getting recurrent
lung cancer less frequently with fewer
deaths than patients treated with
surgery alone.
He said at an American Cancer
Society symposium that it may take
two to four years for a larger study just
beginning to confirm the early treat-ment
results. And then he said it may
take seven to 10 additional years to see
if the vaccine prevents the development
of the most common form of lung
cancer.
Stewart emphasized that the vaccine,
which is derived from cancer cells,
appears effective as a treatment only in
people who have early stages of lung
cancer in which the disease has not
spread to other organs. Lung cancer is
usually advanced when first detected.
" I think as a treatment it's always
going to be depressing in that it is only
applicable to a very small number of
people with this disease," Stewart said.
" With the majority, this disease has
spread too far by the time diagnosis is
made.
" Only 10 percent have it diagnosed
early enough. Ninety percent are
doomed."
The preliminary treatment results
provide the first evidence that the
body's defenses can be mobilized
against a cancer by an agent called an
antigen obtained from that specific
tumor type.
If the vaccine also turns out to be an
effective way to prevent development
of lung cancer, the ultimate objective
would be to try the same technique on
other types of tumors.
" If one is a complete optimist, I
would hope that by the turn of the
century it might be possible to offer
immune- prophylax- is for a certain
number of solid tumors," Stewart said.
Third Ward candidates differ on industrial growth
By Gerard Grimaldl
Mbsourian staff writer
Third Ward candidates Diane Farish and
Larry Taylor differ on many issues, but their
most significant difference concerns the issue of
industrial development in the Third Ward,
which encompasses northeast Columbia.
Mrs. Farish strongly opposed the Square D
' Co. development, which voters approved in June
1977. " It's not so much that I'm against in-dustry.
We're just not building industry to help
people within the city," Mrs. Farish says.
The city's unemployment rate is so low that
industry will attract job- seeke- rs only from
outside the city, she says. Mrs. Farish also
warns that traffic along Route B will worsen if
future Industrie! growth occurs in northeast
Columbto . VTbay knew Route B is a mess ....
People want industry, but not next door to
them."
On the other band, challenger Larry Taylor
says industrial development along the railroad
spur in northeast Columbia is " to our ad-vantage.
It's been clean industry and I think it's
the only practical place for the kind of industry
we want to attract .... Third Ward residents
are generally supportive of clean, non- polluti- ng
industries that create jobs and are a benefit to
Columbia."
The two candidates also disagree on how to
preserve Stephens Park. " Keep as much as
possible," Mrs. Farish says. She suggests the
city purchase 31 acres ( 12 hectares) of the 40- ac- re
( 16- hectar- e) tract as a compromise.
" Thirty years from now we might need a
downtown park."
Taylor leans more toward the purchase of 7
Profiles Pagel2A
acres ( 2.8 hectares) of the land. He says he
believes " federal dollars will dry up," and funds
for any land the city might purchase will come
from the city treasury. " I don't think the
majority of people in my ward are supportive of
spending $ 1.5 million of city money."
The candidates agree that Third Ward traffic
problems are more severe than those on West
Broadway. " I'm concerned that if we're ad-dressing
a traffic problem, their efforts are
misguided," Taylor says. " Route B and Paris
Road are atrocious." Mrs. Farish adds, " If they
want a traffic problem, they should go to Paris
Road."
While both candidates oppose the West
Broadway widening, only Mrs. Farish would
vote against the project if the next City Council
considers it " I don't want it widened," she says.
" The problems are at intersections."
Taylor says he would have voted against the
widening if he bad served on the present council,
but, " I would be reluctant to reverse the
previous council's decision. There would be no
progress if one council reverses everything the
previous council had done."
The candidates have differing views of down- zonin- g,
which provides for more restrictive land
use in an area. Mrs. Farish sponsored the only
successful downzoning thus far when the Alumni
Heights neighborhood where she lives was
rezoned from duplex use to single- famil- y
dwellings only. Mrs. Farish says the developers
" hate me" for the successful downzoning.
Taylor calls downzoning " taking away a
property owner's right" He suggests that the
city, if it is financially feasible, pay an owner
" what you lose by having your property
downzoned."
Both candidates say the city may face a fiscal
crisis, but both are cautious about offering solu-tions.
" Built into the revenue base are some
potential problems," Taylor says. He suggests a
finance study similar to the one done in 1975 to
analyze the problem.
" In the long range, we do have a revenue
crunch," Mrs. Farish says. This revenue crunch
could be softened by the $ 2 million used annually
for capital improvements, she says, " but I'm
not in favor of cutting back capital improve-ments
very much." Mrs. Farish mggwta a
council retreat to analyze the dtps fiscal
structure.