The recent fire at a popular Elmvale-area market won’t deter staff and vendors who are looking forward to welcoming everyone to the 2022 season on Sunday.
Wednesday's fire at the Elmvale Sales Barn and Event Centre on County Road 92 caused some damage to an upstairs room, but owner Ashley Bates tells BarrieToday everyone was OK and that was the most important thing.
“It started Wednesday after lunch on the west side of the building. It caught on in the bathroom and went up into a room upstairs and the auction room,” Bates said Friday afternoon. “We smelled the smoke and were also alerted by a vendor. Me and another person grabbed the fire extinguishers and fought it as best we could until the township (firefighters) got here and put the rest of it out.”
Bates said it was a light that was on too long and got too hot that started the fire.
This weekend marks the official launch of the site's market season and with the inside not able to be used, it forces 12 vendors unable to sell for now.
“The building structurally is fine, but the fire department was in for an inspection and while everything is up to code, now that we’ve had the fire it needs to be up to 2020 fire code," Bates said. "That's where we are falling into problems, because it's hard to take a 100-year-old barn and bring it immediately up to code.”
The market runs every Thursday and Sunday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Bates said the approximately 100 vendors that set up outside will do so for Mother’s Day this weekend.
“We have been working as hard as possible to be ready. Everyone had to deal with COVID shutdowns and so they don’t want to be hit too hard due to the fire,” said Bates.
The site, located between Elmvale and Wasaga Beach, also hosts car shows that Bates said are very popular and can see the whole front field covered in vehicles and onlookers.
“It's a great site and so many people make this their traditional weekend trip,” said Bates. “The market is a big thing, but the events we have throughout the year are equally looked forward to.”
Bates took over the property in April. It has been with her family for three generations.
“If we lost this barn, we would have lost our whole livelihood,” she said. “We’re lucky and thankful we can still have a year’s worth of events.”
Opening day for the facility is Sunday at 9 a.m.
To follow the Elmvale Sales Barn and Event Centre for updates and events, head to their Facebook page by clicking here.
