The Owner of Thrasher’s Garden Centre says they are here to stay.
Wednesday on the Lorne Brooker Show, Michelle Thrasher spoke about the arson that took place at her business Sunday night.
She was quick to thank those that helped in the investigation.
“There was witnesses and they were nice enough, that they were very quick to go to the police and say that they had seen the guy coming out. They gave great descriptions and the police did their thing.”
Thrasher says when she got on scene she could not believe what she was seeing.
“Once you realized how bad it was, you start thinking how do you come out of this? It was just so devastating, it’s like my baby. I’m worried about my father and the whole family.”
Thrasher says they are now turning to the cleanup effort and getting set to build again.
“McDougall has been fantastic and we will rebuild.”“How can you make it look like something that was built in the 60s?”“Yeah, you can’t. It will never look like that ever again.”
Belleville Senior Fire Prevention Officer Kyle Christopher says the Ontario Fire Marshal will look into how the blaze was started.
More than two dozen officers fought the fire, with a focus of keeping the flames away from pesticides and fertilizers that could have created toxic fumes.
Christopher says crews worked well on the stubborn blaze and got there in good time to fight it.
Thrasher added that the insurance agents and engineers are going to look at what is remaining, to see if anything is salvageable.
Damage is estimated to be over $1 million.
Fifty-one-year-old David Robertson, of no fixed address, has been charged with arson.
