Grand Falls Reeling After Fire Destroys 4 Buildings

The town of Grand Falls, N.B., is reeling after a fire on the main road destroyed four buildings, costing some people their jobs, others their businesses and some their homes.
Broadway Boulevard looked like a battlefield Friday, with the smouldering remains of a furniture store, day care, pool hall and beauty salon.
The blaze started about 9 p.m. Thursday in the Dooly's building, then quickly spread through the downtown district, officials said.
More than 120 firefighters, including crews from three fire departments in Maine, fought the blaze amid strong winds and freezing temperatures through the night.
"This is the biggest fire that I've fought, and I've been here 23 years," said Grand Falls Deputy Chief Yvon Pelletier.
"We thought that we had it under control, and then the wind picked up and it just moved the fire from one roof to the other building, from one building to another," he said.
The fire was out by Friday morning and no injuries were reported. But five families, who lived in apartments above the businesses, are now homeless.
"We lost everything. Everything. Everything," said Claudette Pelletier Brunet, who lived in one of the apartments with her husband and two mentally challenged sons.
"We don't have nothing. Not even a comb, a lipstick, nothing. No toothbrush. We have to buy everything. Everything," she said.
The community is now rallying to help the affected families. Donations can be made through the Bank of Montreal.
The fire razed four buildings that housed Senechal Furniture, Broadway Daycare, Dooly's plus a beauty salon. Several other buildings also sustained smoke damage.
Grand Falls Mayor Marcel Deschênes said he was called about the fire at around 9 p.m. on Thursday and was on the scene for most of the night.
"It could have been a lot worse. Just across the street from there is a gas station and we had the wind pushing the sparks across the boulevard," Deschênes said.
"So at one point it was chaotic there and we didn't know what would transpire. We were lucky."
Two excavators were brought in to push buildings down and prevent the fire from spreading.
Fire officials remained on the scene Friday afternoon to monitor hot spots and assess the damages.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The mayor said this blaze isn't the first to take down buildings on Broadway Boulevard.
"We had a fire in that area there in 1974. We bounced back from it and I'm sure these people after they get through the trauma of this, they'll pull up their sleeves and rebuild. We hope so," Deschenes said.