Bathurst fire victims finding ways to move forward

People in Bathurst affected by last Saturday's major fire are starting to find ways to move forward, thanks to friends and the community.

The fire destroyed two buildings, and damaged several others, throwing people out of work and leaving others homeless.

• Bathurst fire destroys four buildings in downtown area
• Bathurst fire considered suspicious by some in the community

Graziella Matteau is painter who had work on display at Au Café Gourmet, a restaurant which burned to rubble.

Her way of coping with the lost work was to get inspired, and paint again.

"From whatever falls down, you can always bring something new up," said Matteau.

She is using the experience as inspiration for her next work.

"It will be about the events that happened, and that's how I'm going to be moving on," she said. "I won't stop painting, that's for sure. I'm going to still have exhibits."

Some of Matteau's work that wasn't in the blaze is on display at a local candy shop.

"I really think that when there is destruction, or when people are shook up with serious events, a lot of good can come out of that," she said. "Because you have to figure out how to get out of it and to try to find a way to make it positive and create a whole new atmosphere."

Dozen people out of work

Johanne Parent was one of a dozen people who lost their jobs when the fire destroyed the café and the nearby pet store.

"I was frightened the night of the fire," she recalled. "I didn't want ot come down. I had to wait for the next day. And then getting here, I guess I just burst into tears from seeing all the labour and hard work just burned to the ground."

Since then, Parent has seen Bathurst pull together to help those who are out of work.

"It means that money's going to be tight, but we've seen a lot of help from the community, from friends, from old co-workers that gathered things and money and stuff to help out," she said.

More help could be coming from the Bathurst Chamber of Commerce, which is working to connect people like Parent and companies with vacant positions.

"We sent a press release yesterday [Tuesday] asking businesses from the region to basically, if they have jobs available, to let us know," said Chamber spokesperson Katherine Lanteigne.

Cause still unknown

There's still no word on the cause of the fire, which is under investigation by the fire marshal's office.

"We are looking at this fire as it is suspicious, because our preliminary investigation indicates that there are things that make us believe that there are probably some more details that we need," said Ernie Boudreau, a deputy chief with the Bathurst City Police.

Another suspicious fire destroyed a building down the street just a week prior to Saturday's blaze.