Don Marcoux found out this morning that an early-morning fire had destroyed a trailer at his business.
For the past 35 years, Marcoux has owned the Hollinger Mini Putt and Batting Cages. It's located at the east end of the Hollinger Park parking lot behind the grandstands.
Just after 1:30 a.m. today (Aug. 28), the Timmins Fire Department received a call about a blaze at the site.
Thirteen firefighters were at the scene, including people from the main station and volunteers from Schumacher and Timmins, said deputy fire chief Scott Atkinson.
Fire crews were on the scene for two hours and there were no injuries, said Atkinson.
The cause of the fire hasn't been determined yet.
It is being investigated by the department's Fire Prevention Division and Timmins Police Services.
The blaze destroyed the main trailer at the site, or the nerve centre, as Marcoux refers to it. It's where the Sno-cones were made and putters were handed out.
“The building itself is thoroughly finished. Took me years to get it the way I wanted and here we go ... it’s going to have to be torn right out and taken out and I’ll try to come up with a plan to replace it. That’ll take me a little bit of time to see if at all possible,” said Marcoux.
The only insurance Marcoux has is liability insurance, which doesn't cover a fire. The reason, he said, is due to a ripple effect of what's going on in the community.
“Over the years, constant break-ins and to be constantly be putting in claims, I knew it wasn’t worth it,” he said. “I always knew the risks. I enjoyed the business more than worrying about the risks in that sense so I went ahead with liability and knowing the risks.”
Marcoux has been with the business since 1988.
He's thankful for the community support and enjoys the smiles on kids' and parents' faces when they're there.
“We’ve all worked hard and to have a place to come to do that little bond and to meet your friends. I always said my favourite song that represented the mini putt was the Cheers theme — you always want to go to a place where everybody knows your name,” he said.
While he's still in shock about the fire, he's trying to keep calm and not get too upset.
"I’ve learned over my life now not to get upset over the little things because there’s always somebody with a tougher story, life and death. This did not include life and death, this is just a physical loss. But this here I can recoup somehow, I hope, over time and I got a lot of good friends. I’m sure with some help of friends we’ll get this going," said.
It's too early to know if the business will reopen this year or early next year. Once he has more information, he'll sit to contemplate, put together a plan and is looking " forward to an even better year next year."