Longtime local business burns down in Naramata

NARAMATA – A large fire completely destroyed a local business in Naramata Sunday morning. While no one was hurt in the blaze, a local family lost their livelihood. It was a workshop, home to Plexus Doors, a family run specialty door making business that burnt to the ground.

“It’s painful,” says Rick Grandbois, owner of Plexus Doors. “One the one end, we put so much love and care into this place but on the other hand, it is a chance to do something new.”

Naramata Fire Chief Tony Trovano says  there were heavy winds and a seemingly endless supply of fuel, one of the worst combinations for fire crews in Naramata.

“It was chaos for probably about half an hour,” says Trovano. “Very little water supply in the area, we had to shuttle crews in from Kaleden.”

The only hydrant was about a kilometer away. Crews were lugging close to 1,500 feet of hose in to attack the fire.

“We did the best we could to keep it to the building itself,” says Trovano. “Multiple dwellings in and around another home on the other side were all saved.”

No one was hurt in the fire but the small community of Naramata is in shock losing the longtime local business.

“I’m devastated for them, that was their livelihood, everything to them, everything,” says Naramata resident Kathy Richardson. “They’re such a beautiful family.”

Fire officials say it took more than an hour to get the aggressive blaze under control but there’s no telling how long it will take for the family to even begin to regain all they lost. The family says they do not have insurance.

“I don’t think insurance companies would’ve paid out on this building,” says Grandbois. “It was such a makeshift building that had grown here and there. I really don’t think it was up to code in certain aspects.”

Trovano says the cause of the blaze is not determinable.

~ with files from Lauren Pullen and Angela Jung