This will be sad news for many gardeners in Belleville.
The retail section of the long-standing Thrasher’s Garden Centre at North Front and Harriet streets was lost to fire early Sunday evening.
City firefighters, in numbers, responded at around 7:30 where the store section of the business was up in flames.
The fire spread up into the roof and those first on scene immediately dumped a tanker load of water to
tamp down the flames as other personnel arrived on scene. That action likely kept the flames from
spreading into the area where pesticides and fertilizers were stored.
Had that section caught fire there would have been explosions, evacuations, and serious air quality issues.
There were no injuries.
Harriett Street at North Front is closed
Excavator pulls away burned sections of
Thrasher’s retail area. (Photo: John Spitters/Quinte News)
At 11 o’clock an excavator was still at work pulling the building apart and firefighters were dousing
hot spots especially in stacks of sawdust bales alongside Harriet Street.
An investigation into a cause continues by both the fire and emergency services department and Belleville police.
Thrasher’s Garden Centre has been in business since 1964.
(Photo: John Spitters/Quinte News)
