Bluefin restaurant fire 'rough for Souris' in already challenging times, says owner

The fire which destroyed the Bluefin restaurant in Souris, P.E.I. has been tough for the community's residents, says restaurant owner Amber Jenkins.

The fire first broke out Wednesday night around 7:30 p.m. and firefighters from Souris, Eastern Kings and St. Peters responded to the blaze. Colin LaVie, chief of the Souris fire department, called the night "a hard fight," and then the building reignited Thursday afternoon, causing even more damage.

"It's rough for Souris, because we are so close," owner Amber Jenkins told CBC Radio: Island Morning's Mitch Cormier.

"Everyone is very sad."

Souris showed up

Jenkins was in Little Pond, about 20 minutes outside of Souris, when she got the call that there was a fire at the restaurant. She jumped in the car and as she pulled onto the causeway heading into town, she said she could see the smoke.

"I had already gotten a call from a really close friend, somebody who's been by my side through the entirety of my ownership, and he was making sure that I wasn't in the building. And he said it was quite bad," she said.

When she arrived on the scene of the blaze, she wasn't able to park close by. She parked halfway down Main Street and walked up to her restaurant.

"There was just a major gathering of, I would say spectators, but really it was just people that were baffled and confused." 

"They couldn't believe what they were seeing, really. An entire community of people."

The restaurant's dining room had been closed since March 18 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They had been reduced to three staff: Jenkins, her partner and another who they had just brought back that week. No one was in the building at the time of the fire.

Jenkins said the community had been incredibly supportive of her business and their new curbside pickup since the pandemic began.

I want Souris to have a say in what happens. They have a say in what happens. They always did.— Amber Jenkins, Bluefin Restaurant

"I thought that maybe with COVID, we would just offer wings on Thursday night because I didn't really know what to expect," she said.

"But, the community of Souris did what they always did, and the first night that we offered wings after being off for two days, the parking lot was full." 

After the success of that first night, the Bluefin decided to open Thursday to Sunday for takeout, and Jenkins said things were even starting to pick up with the Spring lobster season scheduled to start next week on May 15.

"People were happy we were there."

Community has say in rebuild

Jenkins said she's thankful to the community and to the fire crews.

"The firefighters did a lot of work to try and save everything they could, and they were trying to keep themselves and the rest of the community safe at the same time," she said.

"This was a big blow to this area because we had already been under quite a bit of pressure with all the rules and regulations the entire world is facing."

Though there is never a good time for your business to burn down, Jenkins said there is a bit of a silver lining.

"I wish this never happened, but we were operating in different times under different circumstances," said Jenkins. "If this was going into our peak tourist season like we always experience on Prince Edward Island, we would be in a totally different mindset."

The pandemic and a tourism season in question means Jenkins has more time to plan how the Bluefin will rebuild and reopen. 

"If it wasn't for the residents there we would never have operated as successfully as we had," she said.

"I want Souris to have a say in what happens. They have a say in what happens. They always did."

More from CBC P.E.I.