It’s been a devastating 24 hours for Michelle Thrasher, owner of a beloved local business in Belleville, Ont.
On Sunday night, just after 7:30, Thrasher said her phone was blowing up with calls and texts from people telling her that her business, Thrashers Garden Centre on Belleville’s North Front Street, was ablaze.
“People started calling that the store was on fire. I got here, and they were unfortunately very correct,” said Thrasher.
Belleville police said Monday that a 51-year-old man with no fixed address had been arrested and charged with arson and two counts of breach of probation in relation to the fire.
Thrashers has been around for decades, beginning with their feed store that opened over 70 years ago just a block away from the garden centre.
Thrasher bought the business from her father years ago, and has continued to operate it since, to the delight of longtime customers.
“That’s where we got our bird seed from. Just, super nice people,” said longtime customer Eleanor Waite.
The fire was large, and grew from the greenhouse area at the back of the building, slinking across the roof over the storefront and towards a storage unit, which housed tons of chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides, something that added to the risk for firefighters and nearby residents.
“When those things burn they make a cauldron of soup of smoke that would be extremely hazardous to breathe in,” said Belleville Acting Deputy Fire Chief Mark Shannon at the scene.
Due to the difficulties they had knocking it down, an excavator was brought in during firefighting to tear down portions of the wall.
Shannon commended firefighters for their bravery and their work in keeping the fire from the chemicals.
Now, the investigation has been turned over to Belleville police and the Ontario fire marshal’s office.
Though there is no damage estimate, the greenhouse area and storefront are said to be total losses.
Despite the loss of her cherished building, Thrasher only has one thing on her mind: her devoted customers.
“We’re trying to figure out how to keep going, how to get the store back up and running at a temporary location. It’s very important to my customers,” she said.