Owner pledges to rebuild after fire destroyed business, apartments
Late afternoon fire destroys downtown building
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A Campbellton businesswoman plans to rebuild after a fire destroyed her optical business and left several people who lived above it temporarily homeless.
The fire broke out at about 4:20 p.m. on Tuesday.
Firefighters from departments in both Campbellton and Atholville fought the flames for the next several hours, but the building was a loss in the end.
The 80-year-old building was owned by Jennifer and Pat Blais, who operated Comeau Optical on the main floor, and had three apartments making up the second and third floors.
Jenny Pollock lived in one of the apartments on the third floor with her son.
“Jordan (her son) heard two big bangs from downstairs and smoke started to pour in, he almost got trapped by the thick smoke. We are OK but my two cats didn’t make it,” she said.
Jennifer Blais said she finally had a chance to look it over Friday and has already spoken to her insurance company about rebuilding.
Within hours of the blaze, several fundraisers were started for the families who lived in the apartments.
Pollock said the support from the community so soon after the fire was appreciated as they were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
“I lost everything, and so did they. People are reaching out … it’s amazing how everyone helps in their own way. It’s a blessing really.”
Blais said the help she and her tenants have received in the days following the fire has been remarkable.
“You can say what you want but that’s one thing about a small community like ours – people step up to help each other out. We’ve had unbelievable support and look forward to getting back on our feet.”
Blais said two families of two were in two of the apartments with one person occupying the third unit.
“The whole time there wasn’t any heat or flames so I was thinking maybe it wasn’t that bad but it turned out otherwise. The firemen were unbelievable. Luckily they saved my laptop so we didn’t lose all of our customer information,” she said.
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