News from the North!

I received an e-mail from Aunt Muffy a couple of days ago.  I've been too busy to get it posted right away, but now is the time!  After reading it, I decided that I should just put it right here for you to  read in her own words.

So here is Part 1 of Summer in Timmins 2012.....
 
As you may recall, last fall they dealt out the store in Schumacher that Tim had been managing for the whole time we've been up here.  He was moved to the only corporate store that was left in our district.  As the threat of that store being dealt out also was very high, Tim decided that rather than risk being jobless, he would become a dealer in that store.  The official takeover occurred April 23, 2012.
 
One week later - April 30 - Tim had headed into work on the bus as usual.  A little later I get a phone call from him.  I figure it's just him letting me know he got to work OK (he was working midnights, so I liked to know he didn't fall asleep on the bus - don't laugh, it's happened).
 
But what I get is "Hi.  My store's on fire."  Now me, knowing that fire is one of Tim's biggest fears, is thinking he's kidding - you know, there's a problem with the roller grill or something that he's blowing out of proportion - says back questioningly "Your store's really on fire?"  He says back "Ya, I'm on the bus and I can't see the store" (there was so much smoke he literally could not see the store).  He was just calling to let me know he and the staff were OK in case I saw it on the news.  He stayed there until fire was out - someone brought him home in the wee hours.
 
Visited the store the next morning.  From the outside you can't even tell anything is wrong. 

(Pic 1 - notice the pole sign Tim just put up that morning)
The only spot outside you see anything is one little vent at the back of the store where you can see a bit of soot staining.

(Pic 2)
 
Going into the store, except for the God-awful smoke stench, initially you can't see anything really wrong. (Things are sooty, but it's not noticeable on casual inspection.)  The fire apparently started over the walk-in fridge.  As it happens, there are 2 sub-ceilings in that store from multiple renovations and the fire ran rampant in that space between the two.  The walk-in and the ceiling are the only really badly burned things.  Hard to see from ground level. 

(Ceiling - Pic 3&4) 

(Cooler - Pic 5-7 - I love the one with all the orange that looks like it is still on fire - that was  only visible when the flash hit it, it was too dark in there to see before I snapped the picture).
 
The back storage room was pretty destroyed, partly from the fire, partly from attempts to put out the fire. 

The slushee syrup lines ran thru the ceiling there and melted from the heat causing the syrup waterfall in Pic 8, and the gorey CSI looking mess on the floor

(Pic 9).
 
Most of the store was just sooty and smokey - nothing to take pictures of.
 
The next week was spent dealing with big wigs and insurance adjusters and stuff while they tried to determine the cause of the fire, the extent of the damage and what insurance would cover etc.  It was finally decided that the store was basically a write-off just because everything was sooty and smelled like smoke.  
 
Didn't really go back to the store after that as nothing we could do there.  We just get word every once in a while on progress or lack thereof.  The insurance people really held things up for a while as they couldn't agree with Mac's over who would do the demolition and restoration work.  When that was finally resolved, then there was a hold up getting the roof joists (the back half of the roof needed to be replaced) as that had to be done before they could start any work inside.  While they were waiting for the new joists, they started to remove the old roof in prep.  I got these pics at about this stage

 (Pic 10&11)..   They had also removed most of the fixtures and stock by this point.  The store was basically stripped inside to floor and walls, which they were keeping.  Now, don't know if you noticed in those last pics that the roof people didn't do a great job tarping the roof..  We got alot of rain and storms right about this time.  Just guess where this is going....Yup!!!....store got flooded.  Now they have to rip out all the walls and floor and totally replace.  Just added another month til we can reopen.  Since then new roof is on and store is now completely gutted - just the shell.  I believe that they are finally starting the interior work now from what I can gather.  Sorry, no pics - they don't let us inside since they started demoing for safety - you know.
They're hoping to have the store back up by late September now - but it will be basically completely all new and shiny - they've done a complete redesign since they're starting from scratch anyway.  (They had been going to do some reno in the store this summer anyway, although I don't think this was the extent they had in mind).
 
Well, that's pretty much where we stand with the store right now.
 
And thats the end of Part 1.
 
Hope you get the pics OK.
 
Part 2 - the House to follow.
 
And that is the news to date from Up North.  They have had an eventful year so far!  I'm awaiting Part 2 with some anticipation!  Thanks for the up-date Aunt Muffy - and thanks for letting me publish your story and pics!