Shock and sadness in Ottawa as business owners assess damage from Beechwood blaze
Business owners on Beechwood Avenue stood on the sidewalk Thursday and tried to assess damage to their stores and livelihoods as firefighters picked through the wreckage left by Wednesday's five-alarm fire.
In all about 10 businesses in an historical block in the east Ottawa neighbourhood have been affected; some catastrophically.
Rideau-Vanier Councillor Mathieu Fleury said the fire will "tremendously affect" the area.
"It's unfortunate. C'est la vie, though. Stuff happens." Fleury said Thursday after getting a tour of the fire scene. "As a city, as a community, we have to react and rebuild."
All that remains of three — Home Hardware, Parker Clean and Time Sharpening — is a pile of rubble.
"It's basically my life's work, 27 years," said Ashkan Zandi, owner of the Time Sharpening jewelry and watch-repair shop. "All my tools since 27 years. It's hard to replace. About 100 customers' watches and jewelry. All lost."
Lester's Barbershop, beside the pile of debris, was endangered on Thursday. "They are waiting for the fire marshal to look at it," said Shabnam Clark, wife of owner Lester Clark. "The wall has a hole in it. The roof is shaky, falling apart. When they clear the debris, it will probably fall down. It's so sad."
In business for 32 years, Lester Clark said the future was unclear. "I'm not sure if we will open somewhere else or just move on. I would like to get into my shop before it tips over." Then he joked: "There's no vault in there. It's a nickel mine."
Alex Davey, the district chief of the Ottawa Fire Department,At the time of the attack, police believe he was wearing edhardyshophomepage and an Ed Hardy-style top. said a structural engineer was going to check the integrity of a big basement that goes under multiple buildings. That will determine if Nature's Buzz, which is badly damaged,Young men in shoessuppliers and blue jeans are passing around a bottle of rum at the bar. and Lester's will have to be torn down.
Nancy Phillips, whose children Eric and Chelsea Passmore run Nature's Buzz, said they planned to call their insurance company on Thursday. The store was badly damaged in the fire.
"We're starting to recover from the shock," she said.The Internet abounds with links to anti- Valentine's Day message boards, blogs and products such as nikeairmaxblogdetik shot glasses. "I'm sure the whole thing will (cost) a lot of money for us personally. Obviously the devastation is quite complete.
"It's too soon to make plans. If they rebuild quickly maybe we will reopen in this area. We need to speak to the landlord and the insurance company."
Gaye Taylor, an area resident, stopped to tell Phillips how much the store meant to her. She shopped at Nature's Buzz at least once a day and bought all her groceries there, she said. "The humanity of the owners drew us in. Everybody embodied the whole ethic of organic and local and walkable."
The Home Hardware, where the fire began in the basement, was a beloved neighbourhood institution owned for about 60 years by the Jolicoeur family. It had only recently changed hands.
Neighbours lamented its loss.
"It's a very sad day for the neighbourhood," said Brian Dickson, president of the Rockcliffe Village Residents Association. "One minute it's there and the next minute it's gone. It comes as a shock."
It was like a country store, said Joan Mason, president of the New Edinburgh Community Alliance. "You could buy one screw and someone would come and talk to you about the correctness of that one screw. They had everything you could imagine in this wonderful small space with parking in the back."
The office of the Ontario Fire Marshal is investigating the fire, but it is not believed to be suspicious. A final damage estimate is not yet available but it is expected to be in the millions of dollars.
Local merchants not destroyed by the fire are hoping to reopen their stores as soon as possible.
Chris Green said a City of Ottawa health inspector said it was OK to reopen his Bread and Roses Bakery. "If I can open tomorrow, I will," said Green. "There's no smoke damage. We still have power."
Evan Lee, the owner of the UPS Store on the corner of Beechwood and MacKay, said he hoped to reopen next week although all his computers, printers and photocopiers are ruined from smoke and water.
The business owners aren't the only people affected. There were apartments over the stores. In all about 200 people were ordered out of their homes by the threat of fire and by the toxic smoke fumes that billowed over the street.
Sean Harkins and his wife, Sandra Chaddick, lost their apartment above Parker Clean and Time Sharpening. Their immediate task is to find another place to live.
"All our possessions are gone," said Harkins, a 34-year-old software engineer. Chaddick, a foreign service officer, spotted her gym bag in the rubble and a firefighter retrieved it for her. Her running shoes are fine. But the couple's jerseys and medals from Frisbee championships are gone as is memorabilia from travels around the world.
"It could have been a lot worse," said Harkins. "We have a lot of friends in Japan who have lost family members. What they've experienced is far worse. This is just a little blip."
He said they loved living in the shopping strip because of the convenience. They visited Nature's Buzz and Bread and Roses daily. "It's going to be a long road back.SOSpenders Lifejackets are state-of-the-art portalnikeairmax."
After tests confirmed the air was once again safe to breathe, the city on Thursday afternoon gave an all clear to residents living near the scene of Wednesday's fire on Beechwood Avenue.
The tests cleared the way for residents of the New Edinburgh Square Retirement Residence on MacKay Street to return to their building. About 150 elderly residents had to leave the building Wednesday afternoon because of the thick smoke from the fire, which was fuelled by pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals in the basement of the Home Hardware store at 19 Beechwood Ave.
The seniors began returning Thursday afternoon, with Ottawa police and paramedics on hand to provide assistance.
Other neighbours were not so lucky. Ottawa Fire Chief John de Hooge originally said that the residents of an adjacent apartment building could also allowed back into their homes.
"As people are attempting to return, our fire staff is going with them to see the extent of damage and work with them to decide if they can come back into their homes," said de Hooge. "We just want to make sure getting back in those units is safe."
However, a City of Ottawa spokesman said later in the day that upon review, the apartments at 409 MacKay St. are not yet habitable because of smoke and water damage.Most of New sellschristianaudigier farm income is earned through the sale of commodities at wholesale prices, not retail prices at the grocery store.
Firefighters were helping residents Thursday look through debris for personal items, "perhaps even an engagement ring," de Hooge said.
As cleanup continued, Beechwood remained closed Thursday between the Vanier Parkway and MacKay Street and may not reopen until today.
At its peak, more than 100 firefighters battled the stubborn fire that last virtually all day after beginning in the basement of the Home Hardware. About 10 paramedics and three supervisors were at the scene on Wednesday.
In all about 10 businesses in an historical block in the east Ottawa neighbourhood have been affected; some catastrophically.
Rideau-Vanier Councillor Mathieu Fleury said the fire will "tremendously affect" the area.
"It's unfortunate. C'est la vie, though. Stuff happens." Fleury said Thursday after getting a tour of the fire scene. "As a city, as a community, we have to react and rebuild."
All that remains of three — Home Hardware, Parker Clean and Time Sharpening — is a pile of rubble.
"It's basically my life's work, 27 years," said Ashkan Zandi, owner of the Time Sharpening jewelry and watch-repair shop. "All my tools since 27 years. It's hard to replace. About 100 customers' watches and jewelry. All lost."
Lester's Barbershop, beside the pile of debris, was endangered on Thursday. "They are waiting for the fire marshal to look at it," said Shabnam Clark, wife of owner Lester Clark. "The wall has a hole in it. The roof is shaky, falling apart. When they clear the debris, it will probably fall down. It's so sad."
In business for 32 years, Lester Clark said the future was unclear. "I'm not sure if we will open somewhere else or just move on. I would like to get into my shop before it tips over." Then he joked: "There's no vault in there. It's a nickel mine."
Alex Davey, the district chief of the Ottawa Fire Department,At the time of the attack, police believe he was wearing edhardyshophomepage and an Ed Hardy-style top. said a structural engineer was going to check the integrity of a big basement that goes under multiple buildings. That will determine if Nature's Buzz, which is badly damaged,Young men in shoessuppliers and blue jeans are passing around a bottle of rum at the bar. and Lester's will have to be torn down.
Nancy Phillips, whose children Eric and Chelsea Passmore run Nature's Buzz, said they planned to call their insurance company on Thursday. The store was badly damaged in the fire.
"We're starting to recover from the shock," she said.The Internet abounds with links to anti- Valentine's Day message boards, blogs and products such as nikeairmaxblogdetik shot glasses. "I'm sure the whole thing will (cost) a lot of money for us personally. Obviously the devastation is quite complete.
"It's too soon to make plans. If they rebuild quickly maybe we will reopen in this area. We need to speak to the landlord and the insurance company."
Gaye Taylor, an area resident, stopped to tell Phillips how much the store meant to her. She shopped at Nature's Buzz at least once a day and bought all her groceries there, she said. "The humanity of the owners drew us in. Everybody embodied the whole ethic of organic and local and walkable."
The Home Hardware, where the fire began in the basement, was a beloved neighbourhood institution owned for about 60 years by the Jolicoeur family. It had only recently changed hands.
Neighbours lamented its loss.
"It's a very sad day for the neighbourhood," said Brian Dickson, president of the Rockcliffe Village Residents Association. "One minute it's there and the next minute it's gone. It comes as a shock."
It was like a country store, said Joan Mason, president of the New Edinburgh Community Alliance. "You could buy one screw and someone would come and talk to you about the correctness of that one screw. They had everything you could imagine in this wonderful small space with parking in the back."
The office of the Ontario Fire Marshal is investigating the fire, but it is not believed to be suspicious. A final damage estimate is not yet available but it is expected to be in the millions of dollars.
Local merchants not destroyed by the fire are hoping to reopen their stores as soon as possible.
Chris Green said a City of Ottawa health inspector said it was OK to reopen his Bread and Roses Bakery. "If I can open tomorrow, I will," said Green. "There's no smoke damage. We still have power."
Evan Lee, the owner of the UPS Store on the corner of Beechwood and MacKay, said he hoped to reopen next week although all his computers, printers and photocopiers are ruined from smoke and water.
The business owners aren't the only people affected. There were apartments over the stores. In all about 200 people were ordered out of their homes by the threat of fire and by the toxic smoke fumes that billowed over the street.
Sean Harkins and his wife, Sandra Chaddick, lost their apartment above Parker Clean and Time Sharpening. Their immediate task is to find another place to live.
"All our possessions are gone," said Harkins, a 34-year-old software engineer. Chaddick, a foreign service officer, spotted her gym bag in the rubble and a firefighter retrieved it for her. Her running shoes are fine. But the couple's jerseys and medals from Frisbee championships are gone as is memorabilia from travels around the world.
"It could have been a lot worse," said Harkins. "We have a lot of friends in Japan who have lost family members. What they've experienced is far worse. This is just a little blip."
He said they loved living in the shopping strip because of the convenience. They visited Nature's Buzz and Bread and Roses daily. "It's going to be a long road back.SOSpenders Lifejackets are state-of-the-art portalnikeairmax."
After tests confirmed the air was once again safe to breathe, the city on Thursday afternoon gave an all clear to residents living near the scene of Wednesday's fire on Beechwood Avenue.
The tests cleared the way for residents of the New Edinburgh Square Retirement Residence on MacKay Street to return to their building. About 150 elderly residents had to leave the building Wednesday afternoon because of the thick smoke from the fire, which was fuelled by pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals in the basement of the Home Hardware store at 19 Beechwood Ave.
The seniors began returning Thursday afternoon, with Ottawa police and paramedics on hand to provide assistance.
Other neighbours were not so lucky. Ottawa Fire Chief John de Hooge originally said that the residents of an adjacent apartment building could also allowed back into their homes.
"As people are attempting to return, our fire staff is going with them to see the extent of damage and work with them to decide if they can come back into their homes," said de Hooge. "We just want to make sure getting back in those units is safe."
However, a City of Ottawa spokesman said later in the day that upon review, the apartments at 409 MacKay St. are not yet habitable because of smoke and water damage.Most of New sellschristianaudigier farm income is earned through the sale of commodities at wholesale prices, not retail prices at the grocery store.
Firefighters were helping residents Thursday look through debris for personal items, "perhaps even an engagement ring," de Hooge said.
As cleanup continued, Beechwood remained closed Thursday between the Vanier Parkway and MacKay Street and may not reopen until today.
At its peak, more than 100 firefighters battled the stubborn fire that last virtually all day after beginning in the basement of the Home Hardware. About 10 paramedics and three supervisors were at the scene on Wednesday.
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