Members of the Delta Hospital Auxiliary Society are anxiously waiting for access to their Ladner thrift store to assess damage from a late Sunday night fire.
The fire, which was reported around 11 p.m., is believed to have started in the back alley where there are donation bins and a dumpster.
Thrift Shop coordinator Angie Smith said the incident is so unfortunate for the thrift store volunteers.
Smith added all the thrift stores located in the Delta Street strip mall had undergone extensive renovations that included new laminate flooring and paint. Now the hope is firefighters were able to contain the damage to just the store’s original location.
“Right now we are not allowed in the building. There is going to be damage, but to what extent I have no idea right now,” said Smith. “We have just told all our volunteers this unfortunate thing has happened. Thank goodness our building is cement, but it affects all the business along there. It’s not just us. What a way to start the new year. It’s so sad.”
East Ladner resident Heather Fuhrman was driving home with her husband on Highway 17A when she looked across the farm field and saw something on fire around 11:10 p.m. Their curiosity took them to the Ladner Village area and Delta fire trucks were right in front of them on Ladner Trunk Road.
“By the time we parked and walked down there my first thought was ‘oh no not the thrift store.' I knew they had just renovated and it’s such a hub in our community,” said Furhman, who took photos for the Optimist. “There was smoke billowing out from under the canopy. The light was still on in the (adjacent) fashion store. I did not see any flames inside and it looked like it was contained to just the original thrift store.”
