May told me about this last weekend, and it seems thanks to a serendipidous twist of luck that alerted them to the fire, the good sense of having extinguishers on hand (and in good working order) and the considerable speed and efforts of the South Bruce Peninsula Firefighters, all combined to assure we did not lose one of our more precious and visible landmarks up at the Handicraft House Trading Post.

Extensive damage done in Handicraft fire
“If it hadn’t been for the fire extinguishers we would have lost the whole place,” said Nancy. And the firefighters “were just awesome,” she said. Not only did they respond in a hurry, they also did as little damage as possible in fighting the fire. “These guys were amazing. They did so little damage and deserve such credit. We are a fortunate community to have them all,” she said.

Nancy (Davis) estimates that over $100,000 in stock was destroyed plus there was also structural damage, however most of the antique artifacts were saved, like the 1,600 lb stuffed Kodiak bear that has been a centerpiece of the store for close to 50 years. Most of the stock that was uncovered was destroyed, but glassed in articles were salvaged.

Vendors at the weekend flea-market and craft fair were also told the damage would take several weeks to repair and that, with the Handicraft House shut down, they'd understand if the vendors decided not to open their stalls for the next few weekends. So far as we could tell, not one of them has any plans to do any such thing.

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