STELLARTON – It wasn’t just a business that was lost when Scotia Plumbing’s building went on fire Monday, it was the beginnings of a home.
Scotia Plumbing is owned by the Baudoux family and they had been nearing completion of renovations to the top level of the building including installing a kitchen and were planning to finish moving in in the near future.
The family is now camping in an RV in the parking lot while they wait for fire investigators to complete their report.
“We can only assume it was electrical,” Carly Wynn-Baudoux said of the cause of the fire. “I think some of the electrical was older.”
All of the family’s belongs were stored in the building and Carly suspects much of it will be destroyed or damaged along with her husband’s tools, but she’s thankful things were not worse.
The room they believe the fire started in was their four-year-old daughter’s playroom and she said it makes her sick to her stomach to think of how much worse it could have been if the girl had been playing in there when it happened.
Thankfully Carly and her daughter were not in the building at the time.
Her husband Brenton was working inside along with two of his employees when one of them noticed smoke. They grabbed two dogs that were in the building with them and got out.
From there the fire progressed quickly as firefighters from various departments rushed to help put it out.
“It was overwhelming to see how many people were helping us when they could have been home having supper with their families.”
They took time to give stuffed animals to her daughter and show her the fire trucks.
“Kindness goes a long way especially when you’re in the midst of the whole situation,” she said. “We really appreciate it.”
While the building was insured, the family’s household contents were not.
“I don’t know what other belongings are salvageable,” Carly said. “We just have to wait for the investigators.”
The family have two children, a 17-year-old daughter and a four-year-old. For now, no formal fundraisers have been organized.
Since the fire, there has been a lot of traffic stopping by with people wanting to get pictures or look at the building. Carly hopes that once people realize it wasn’t just a business and the family is still living on the property they might be more sensitive before they pull in to look.
