The small community of Douglas, Ont. and the surrounding Ottawa Valley neighbours, are reeling after an overnight fire reduced the Douglas Trading Post to rubble.
Located just off Highway 60 in the Township of Admaston and Bromley, and known to locals as “the old tavern,” the building recently opened as a diner and was seeing great success. Chief Bill McHale, of the township’s fire department, told CityNews in an interview that the Monday night blaze is a “tragedy.”
McHale said the first person to call in a report was a firefighter who could see smoke from his home. He went over to the scene and woke up the owners who lived in the residence attached to the diner.
Around 8:00 p.m. the firefighter called 911, and from only several doors down, his fellow crew members arrived. Once on scene, the team confirmed smoke was coming from the diner portion of the business.
Initially, firefighters were able to enter the building and found flames inside the ceiling. McHale said the flames were hidden because the roof had been replaced several times over the decades, making it incredibly difficult to douse them properly.
“Almost immediately, five other departments were called,” McHale said.
At this point, the flames had grown quickly because of the available material between the ceilings. The Town of Renfew brought in its heavy machinery to help crews open the roof.
“We were feeding water from above, and several times we thought we had it out, but it took off on us again…the fire outsmarted us,” McHale said of the situation.
He described how the blaze was “engaging and swirling around.” It spread so quickly through the building, jumping across the roof rafters.
“It was one move ahead of us,” McHale said.
Despite hours of effort from several departments and dozens of crew members, the blaze burned through the building. Around 3:00 a.m., some departments were being released, but it wasn’t until 5:00 a.m. that the team had the flames under control.
Firefighters returned at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday and continue to move rubble and douse hot spots.
The loss to the community
The building was first erected in the 1880s, McHale said, and started as the tavern people know it best by. Somewhere after the 1930s, a hotel portion was added, and the business changed hands.
The newest owners, Dan Peters and Amanda Todd, “kept as much Douglas in the building as they could.”
Almost everyone in the community has a story about the building, whether it was from its tavern days, the huge St. Patrick’s Day parties or where they would grab a bite to eat.
Even McHale has a personal story.
His family owned the tavern in 1969, and he grew up in the residence attached to it. On a website called The Diddley, dedicated to sharing the story of the building, it says that the McHale family “were pivotal in nurturing a profound sense of community and unity that transcended.”
“The tavern wasn’t just a business; it was a home away from home,” it reads.
McHale said he made calls to his mother and sister to tell them what happened, “adding insult to injury.”
The Ontario fire marshal investigated and told McHale on Tuesday morning that the fire is not being considered suspicious. No one was injured in the blaze.
“This is a building the community had a hand in owning and operating,” McHale said. “The cornerstone of the community is gone; it’s a tragedy.”