K'atlodeeche First Nation auto repair garage destroyed by fire
Owner plans to rebuild, hopes for donations
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Monday, October 26, 2015
K'ATLODEECHE/HAY RIVER RESERVE
The owner of an auto repair garage on the K'atlodeeche First Nation destroyed last week by fire says he plans to rebuild.
"Now my entire shop is gone," said Ricky Sonfrere, owner of Rick's Auto Parts, located on a rural stretch of road leading to the old village site.
The business he's run for about 10 years was consumed by fire Oct. 16. No one was injured.
He said he was at the shop that morning and turned the furnace on before heading home for lunch.
Before he got back to the shop, he received a call telling him the building was on fire.
"'Your shop's on fire!' So I just dropped everything and flew down to the shop," he said less than an hour after fire crews left the scene.
The building was not insured, he said.
He estimates the damage to the building and tools inside at about $80,000. That doesn't include a customer's vehicle inside the garage that was destroyed and another vehicle outside that was damaged.
Sonfrere believes the furnace is to blame for the fire.
Hay River deputy fire chief Vince McKay said the fire has been deemed accidental in nature but that the office of the NWT fire marshal will investigate further.
A request for an interview with someone from that office late Friday afternoon was not returned by press time.
Sonfrere, who said he's a volunteer firefighter with the K'atlodeeche First Nation's small department, said he initially called to get that department to send its truck to fight the fire.
But he says he was told it couldn't.
He said he waited an estimated 20 minutes for the town's fire department to drive the roughly 22 km from the station to his burning garage.
By the time the department arrived, he said the building was engulfed in flames.
McKay said the town's fire department received the call at about 1:25 p.m. and finished at the garage around 3:30 p.m.
Nine firefighters and two trucks from the town responded.
There were a few tanks in the garage that McKay said did explode because of the fire.
Sonfrere said he wants to rebuild his business.
"I'm going to try and raise some funds to put up a new shop," he said.
Max William Mahoney, a friend of Sonfrere, saw the fire and offered any help he could provide.
He said he will be helping his friend raise money to rebuild.
"We'll do what we can to set him back up," he said.
"He's got a good support group, we're going to help him."
