The owner of a service centre in Dominion, N.S., is left picking up the pieces after his business was destroyed by fire early Wednesday morning.
Residents tell CTV News they heard several loud bangs shortly after 4 a.m. and some homes had to be evacuated due to the intense heat coming from Bailey’s Service Centre.
“There was sparks flying on my house and the firemen banged on my door to tell me to leave the house,” said witness Joel Guthro.
More than 30 firefighters from three different departments responded to the scene. Dominion Volunteer Fire Department Chief Scott Duffney says it took three hours for the fire to be extinguished.
“There was a whole lot of unknowns inside. Being a commercial structure there was a lot of automotive parts storage, so there was a lot of fuel storage, oxygen tanks, there were some dangers involved in it,” said Duffney.
Several cars were also destroyed in the blaze.
Owner Cliff Bailey says he’s not sure where he’ll go from here.
“You're shut down. You're stopped. Your whole life is stopped right now,” said Bailey.
Bailey began working at the station in 1979 and took ownership six years later. He lives just a few kilometres from the garage and received a call from a neighbour that it was on fire.
“I wasn't panicking until I saw the flames up passed the trees. That's when the panic set in,” Bailey said.
The burned-out building is attracting a lot of attention in the community.
“It's an awful loss. It's a loss to the community, a loss to the owner, a loss to the employees,” said customer Gordon MacDonald.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.
