In the aftermath of the Dec. 20 blaze, the community at large has reached out to Larsen and helped keep his business open.
Competitor Fountain Tire lent him some much needed equipment to get the tire end of the shop back up and running, while Xtreme Power Products loaned him a skid steer to help in the clean-up as Larsen’s was destroyed in the fire.
“We’re up and running again, so that was really nice of Fountain. And Kubota came over right away to lend us the skid steer. But I’ve probably had 50 different people offering help. It’s the community coming together, it’s what we do for one another,” said Larsen.
“It’s a good feeling to see that kind of support. It makes me feel blessed to live in this community and call it home.”
The fire could have been much worse if not for Rollie Batog who was out for a morning coffee and spotted smoke billowing from the building, located at 10019 - 107 Ave, around 6:45 a.m.
“Something didn’t look right. I walked over to the building and the smoke was increasing from the doors,” said Batog, who then called and waited for the emergency services to arrive before heading off to work.
Larsen said without Batog’s keen eye, things could have been much worse. Westlock Fire Department chief Stuart Koflick reported Dec. 20 that the fire remains under investigation.
“I was talking to Rollie again today about it … if he shows up five minutes later, or five minutes earlier the whole building could have been gone. It’s good that people keep their eyes open. I’m so thankful to him,” said Larsen.
“And I’m also so thankful to the fire department for their hard work and just the community at large.”
Repairing the damage has already started as Larsen said the bay has already been gutted, the old door is down and the tin is off the walls and the ceiling as well.
“Hopefully I’ll have it all up and going again within two weeks. Insurance has been good to deal with so far,” he said.
