Business owners are in shock after fire ripped through a block of storefronts on McAllister Avenue in downtown Port Coquitlam on Thanksgiving Monday.
Melissa Govindasamy, owner of Martha's Bakery and Cafe, said she was alerted to the blaze by the police early Monday morning and is still reeling from the news and trying to figure out what to do next.
She and her husband, Tim Marsh, who took over the family business from Bala and Martha Govindasamy in 2012, are trying to make sense of the disaster that wiped out tables, chairs, equipment and precious art work.
Govindasamy said she grew up at the business her Malaysian-born parents started in 2002 and still can't believe that so much of it is destroyed.
"There's a lot of priceless things, I'm finding it hard to take," admitted Govindasamy, who graduated from Riverside secondary in 2007.
One memento of special significance was a mirror her dad made for her mother embossed with Malaysian art designs in the plasterwork. The tables were also specially designed by him.
"They worked really hard to achieve something," Govindasamy said of her parents.
The restaurant, which served Malaysia-inspired food, was a popular spot for city workers and had painting by Arts Focus artists on the walls. Now, finding an affordable place to lease in downtown PoCo might be a challenge.
PoCo BIA executive director Susanna Walden said she is working with the city to compile a list of possible locations and trying to offer as much support as possible.
"We have reached out to every business" affected by the fire, Walden said. "We've phoned and we've emailed, and we're finding it's really early days for them, they're very overwhelmed."
One business that seems to have recovered quickly is Serenity Health, which was offered office space across the street at Harmony Massage Therapy.
"We're very lucky. We've had a whole lot of support from the community," said Dr. Serena Markham, who said the online appointment booking system made it easy to contact clients, although all the equipment and a beautifully decorated space have been destroyed.
Over at Sushi Koo restaurant, the future is uncertain. Owners contacted by The Tri-City News said they still hadn't been inside the building to assess the damage.
Gillian Yardley, area manager for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, whose offices were next door to the vacant Curves for Women space said staff and volunteers are making do without an office but it has been difficult, especially because fundraising mementoes were burned.
"Our little office covers a lot of territory," said Yardley, who was working from home and from the charitable organization's Vancouver office.
Job one, Yardley said, is to find a new location for the staff and volunteers who handle fundraising for the area that covers the Tri-Cities as well as Surrey, Langley, New Westminster, Burnaby and the Fraser Valley. (To help visit heartandstroke.com or email [email protected].)
With February Heart Month rapidly approaching, Yardley said it's critical to have a space that volunteers can work out of. "We're looking for a permanent home, hopefully in the PoCo area."
However, the fire hasn't affected any fundraisers.
Laura Dupont, PoCo's acting-mayor, said she is hopeful the businesses and charitable foundation can re-establish, and said the community and the city are behind the owners.
"Hopefully, we can find places for the short term and get them up and running," said Dupont, noting that it's the second time in just over a year several PoCo businesses have been burned down. On July 30, 2015, five businesses on Shaughnessy Street were destroyed in a fire.
Meanwhile, Port Coquitlam fire inspectors are still working to determine the cause of the McAllister Avenue fire.
