Jul 12, 2009 - 04:19 PM

By Jennifer Stone

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PICKERING -- Daniel Park was working at his business, Claremont General Store, when the alarm was raised late Sunday morning.

“Somebody came, and said ‘fire,’” Mr. Park said, as he sat on a bench in a parkette across from what remained of his store and the adjoining buildings he also owns, at Old Brock Road and Central Street.

It started just before noon Sunday. Derek Budarick was sitting outside his apartment, located in the building adjoining the store, when he and friends noticed the blaze in the area where the store and the postal outlet come together. An attempt to turn on the outdoor garden hose proved futile, so Mr. Budarick ran up into his apartment, to try to get some pots and pans filled with water to douse the blaze. “I ran upstairs, and lost my shoes coming back down, because they were in flames,” he said.

Another tenant, a single mom whose two children are usually at home, was home alone at the time, and managed to get out safely.

“She was upstairs on the couch, sleeping,” when the fire broke out, neighbour Matt Peer, whose family took the woman in even as the blaze raged on, said. “She’s a single mom and she’s lost everything she had.”

Pickering Fire officials were just beginning the investigation, but Mr. Budarick believes, given where the blaze seemed to begin, it must have been electrical in nature.

Pickering’s fire department received the 911 call at 11:53 a.m., said platoon chief Rick Ingram. Additional resources were also called in from fire departments in Whitchurch-Stouffville, Uxbridge, Ajax and Whitby.

By 3:30 p.m., only a few hotspots remained in the structure, and though some walls remained standing, the buildings appeared largely gutted.

No one was injured in the blaze, platoon chief Ingram said.

A sign above the entrance to the store boasts ‘Fresh Meat and Groceries since 1847.’ It’s believed to be one of the oldest continually-operating general stores in Ontario.

Cathy Trewin watched as firefighters worked to douse the flames. She said she feels for all involved.

“I know the owner and his family,” she said. “They are such fine people, and I know they’ve lost their whole business. I feel bad for the gentleman who was renting upstairs. He got out without even any shoes on. He’s lost everything. I feel terrible.”

Mr. Park has owned the building housing the store and apartments for about six-and-a-half years, he said. He’s still waiting to assess how much has been lost.

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” he said with a sad smile.

Mr. Budarick was less uncertain.

“I’ve lost everything, man,” he said.

--- With files from Celia Klemenz