The owner of Obsessed Auto Detailing in Courtenay is hoping to be operating at a new location by early September after a devastating fire this week.
Fellow citizens and businesses have reached out with support since the Wednesday morning fire that swept through Phil Creaser’s business and the adjacent Charlie’s Auto Wash. The businesses were located in the same leased building on the 300 block of the Old Island Highway.
“It’s a business that I built over nine years here in the valley,” Creaser said Thursday. “Everything is gone.”
Dealerships he works for have offered him space to use and he is also looking for a suitable new site. Ideally, he would like to see the burned structure rebuilt and return to that same location.
For now, he’s still working out what to do in the near future. His two workers will be staying with the business.
A truck belonging to a dealership was in the detailing business and destroyed in the fire.
Courtenay Deputy Fire Chief Jonathan Welsh said it is too soon to know what caused the fire. Fire investigators were at the scene Thursday and the RCMP is also involved.
The building was extensively damaged, he said.
RCMP officers spotted the fire and reported it shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday. They set up a perimeter around the blaze to keep the public back from the scene.
Firefighters faced heavy smoke and flames and wind helped the fire grow quickly. They had to cut holes in the roof to get access to hot spots.
Repeated popping sounds from inside the building indicated an electrical danger. Firefighters were told to leave the car wash building and wait for B.C. Hydro to shut off the power.
“I was quite concerned that the crew would be at risk being around that equipment while in there,” Welsh said.
Bystanders watched electric arcs form in the fire.
Despite the intensity of the blaze, firefighters were able to get it under control in slightly more than an hour, Welsh said.
