Bothwell residents watch as fire rips through three buildings, including diner and post office

Heather Wright/The Independent

“A little bit of our heart and soul in this town is gone today.”

That from Bothwell resident Crystal Ashburn. She and her parents, Al and Marianne Ashburn, watched as the front of Mrs. A’s General Store burst into flames and fell to the ground. The family ran the general store for 20 years before selling in 2020. It was one of three buildings which went up in flames Friday, leaving a gaping hole in Main Street.

Bothwell firefighters arrived on the scene around 3 am to find what fire officials say was a well developed fire in a building spreading to adjoining buildings.. Lisa Downie saw the smoke from her window and went to investigate about 3:15 am. The Bothwell Diner – the town’s only coffee shop – was in flames, with the Canada Post outlet also on fire. It wasn’t long before the General Store was in flames, too.

Ashburn arrived on the scene around 5 am. She and her parents watched as the general store and the diner – which they also owned for 10 years – burned.

“Horrific like nothing I’ve stood and watched before,” she said, describing what she and her parents saw. “Flames billowing, smoke billowing; it was horrible.

“It’s a part of our lives and a part of the history of the town, so it was a little hard on them. And I’m part of the town hall committee, the boosters, and I work at the library, so little bit of our heart and soul in this town’s gone today.”

Chatham-Kent Fire Assistant Fire Chief, Adam Walters says for hours, 30 firefighters from Bothwell, Thamesville, Ridgetown and Orford/Highgate battled the fire which was fed by a gas line which could not be turned off.

“We struggled for a bit with a severed gas line. We had a gas line that was open and on fire and unable to extinguish until we could bring in the utility companies to shut that source of gas,” he said adding “it was quite a time to get to be able to locate those utilities and isolate that gas line.”

An Enbridge Gas official on the scene told The Independent it was finally turned off just before 8:30 am. It is not immediately clear why it took so long.

Witnesses at the scene say at one point, the gas meter on the side of the post office blew up.

The cold also made fighting the fire difficult. Public works crews laid a thick layer of salt on the street so firefighters would not slip on ice forming as they worked. The Bothwell fire hall is directly behind the fire, but it could not be used as a warming center for firefighters. A strong east-wind blew heavy smoke over the area, making it impossible to use the building.

Walters, says Chatham-Kent Police also went door-to-door, warning residents of the fire and to tell them to keep their windows and doors closed. Two people who lived in an apartment on the corner of Main and Elm Street were evacuated at the height of the fire. Their building was not damaged and Walters said they would be returning home.

While firefighters tried to gain control, residents gathered, watching yet another fire destroy the town’s streetscape. In 1867 – the year Bothwell became a town – a devastating fire destroyed a number of hotels and businesses. And in  August of 1980 fire struck Bothwell once again, destroying the Central Hotel, the last remains of the oil booms that had made Bothwell famous.

The lot beside Mrs. A’s General store had been vacant for years, again after a fire.

Friday’s blaze is another blow to the small town’s commercial district.

“We just keep seeing our town slowly burn down,” says Bothwell resident Faye Smith. “It’s hard to see it.”

Smith is particularly sad to see the post office destroyed. Her father was a mailman, delivering big bags of letters to post offices around southern Ontario.

“I can remember bringing mail here with my dad. He’d go to Chatham and pick up the big bags and bring them here.”

Ashburn also has ties to the post office; her husband is a Canada Post employee. She, like others watching at the scene, are worried about what will come next.

“I think with the Canada Post changes that have been coming for a while, there was probably intention of changing things anyway, and so this is going to make it move a little faster. Maybe (community mail) boxes in town, they’ll have to deliver and sort from a different location,” speculated Ashburn.

“Our town’s landscape is going to look different and things are going to look different with how you get your mail, that’s for sure.”

Canada Post says a temporary location is being set up in the community. “Our local teams are adjusting our operations and are working on contingency plans. As a result, customers will also receive a letter explaining where they will be able to pick up their mail on a temporary basis. We will continue to keep customers and media informed,” said spokesperson Lisa Liu, in a statement to The Independent.

“Customers who are missing a mail item or parcel are asked to contact the sender and begin their claim for a refund or have the parcel sent to them again.”

Chatham-Kent fire investigators say based on the interviews at the scene, they believe the fire was accidental.