A small town in central New Brunswick has lost its only grocery store following a early morning fire.
The blaze at the Foodland store on Main Street in Minto started around 7 a.m. Monday.
Jim Gallagher told reporters his great uncle started the store in 1904 called ‘Gallagher’s Limited”. He said Foodland has been in Minto at least 10 years and said they lease the property to Sobey’s.
“It’s a great loss to the community I tell you,” Gallagher said. “I’m very sad for our family, moreso for the Minto community.”
He said the fire is “devastating” and said watching firefighters put out the blaze was “extremely emotional” for him.
“Very tragic for the community,” Gallagher said.
He and his wife saw the news on social media and drove in from Fredericton to see for himself.
“I worked in the store from the age of 10 to, I guess, 25,” Gallagher said. “I must say it’s really difficult.”
He said he’s relieved to hear that no body was hurt in the fire.
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A-2-Z Learning Centre owner Linda Richardson said she called 911 when she saw the flames around 7:05 a.m.
“I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, it looks like Foodland is on fire, and hopefully it’s a small fire and they can put it out quickly,’ but then I realized as I got outside it was more than a little fire,” Richardson said. “It’s very devastating to the community.”
“It’s a huge impact on this community and we’ve been impacted so many times in the last few years, it’s really devastating. I heard that they had about 42 employees. Everyone waits for their pay on Thursdays and it’s very devastating to the community”
She said her mother will be 90 in June and said she’s been stopping at the store for 75 years and said her mother is devestated.
Richardson said power went out at the daycare shortly after the fire began and said she had to close down for the day.
“I’m not worried about myself, I’m just kind of worried about what’s going on up the road. I’m sure that NB Power will be out to restore us as soon as possible,”Richardson said.
According to NB Power’s outage map online, there were more than 350 customers affected in the area.
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Fire departments from as far away as Fredericton were called to the scene to battle the flames.
New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization regional coordinator Jason Cooling told reporters there were “eight or nine” fire departments on-scene.
He said there were no injuries reported and said people should stay indoors and said they’re working with Environment Canada on plume monitoring to see where the smoke is flowing.
“It’s important to understand that the smoke is flowing in a southerly direction into the capital region and then moving west towards the Maine border,” he said.
“Obviously people with respiratory illnesses should be concerned,” Cooling said, but said there was no risk of smoke inhalation.
Sobeys Response
In an email statement to Global News, Sobeys communications manager Shauna Selig said they are thankful no one was hurt and said they are working with the investigator to determine the cause of the fire.
“We know how much the Minto store is loved by customers and commit to letting everyone know next steps as soon as we can,” Selig said.
“Right now, our priority is making sure the franchisee and his employees are supported through this difficult time.”
‘It’s devastating’
Resident Krista Knox said it’s a huge loss to the whole community.
“It’s hard for the people in the town because of the elderly, mostly,” said Knox. She said most seniors call into the store to order-in for their groceries and then have them delivered by taxi.
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She said they will now have to find other ways to get groceries.
“Our convenience stores only have minimal amounts of food,” Knox said.
“We will all have to go to either Fredericton, Chipman or Oromocto in order to get our food which is at least 20 minutes to half-an-hour away, so it is going to be very difficult for everybody,” she said.
“It’s devastating. It’s devastating for everybody involved. It’s our only grocery story, it’s all we had,” Knox said. “So now we’re all going to be left wondering ‘what happens next’.”
—With files from The Canadian Press
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