Following several weeks out of commission after being torched by an arsonist, a popular south-end Barrie food wagon was back in business on the weekend.
Jonesy’s, which is located in the parking lot of the south-end Barrie Canadian Tire on Mapleview Drive West, closed Sept. 9 as the store repaved its parking lot.
“We were officially shut down and we moved our vehicle just around to the side of the building,” operator Kevin Jones told BarrieToday. “We took out the equipment and cleaned everything, did a renovation and put everything back together."
Ten days after shutting down for the paving project, Jones received the bad news.
“I took two days off (after the renovations), then got a phone call from the general manager saying Canadian Tire was on fire,” he said. “Then he got here, called me and said, 'Nope, it’s your business that’s on fire'.
"It was just disbelief.”
The trailer, which had its electricity and gas disconnected, had been deliberately set alight.
Barrie police responded to the south-end Canadian Tire on Sept. 19 shortly after 10 p.m. At the time, investigators were told of a possible suspect who had been seen in the area. The person is described as a white male, with an average build and height, with short hair, wearing a navy blue T-shirt and black shorts.
Officers have also canvassed nearby businesses with possible surveillance footage that could assist in the investigation, which remains active and ongoing, said Peter Leon, with the Barrie police department’s communications unit.
Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Weber said nine firefighters arrived on scene to find the food trailer engulfed in flames and within only a few feet of the building. The exact cause of the fire was undetermined.
Damage was estimated at around $25,000, but Weber said that only takes into account the trailer and its contents, not the lost revenue.
Jones said he immediately began thinking about whether the arson was random or targeted.
“I didn’t even know if I was going to continue selling hot dogs,” he said. “I didn’t know the impact of whether I came back and this was going to be a repeat offence. These were just things going on in my head.”
The fire destroyed the former food wagon Jones had operated his business from.
“It’s in the scrap yard right now,” said Jones, who’s now using a rental trailer as he irons out his next steps.
The Jonesy’s food wagon, which runs seven days a week, has been at the Mapleview Drive location since 1999 and Jones has been there every step of the way, starting out as a teenager with the family business.
“I was very young. I was going into Grade 9 (when we started),” he said.
Now 33 years old and father to three young children, Jones and his crew were back in business Saturday and there were several familiar faces back at the window with their orders.
“It was an excellent start. It was unbelievable,” he said. “My wife took a picture of me and blasted it on Facebook. There were a lot of questions and I felt like a tape recorder, but that’s what happens when you disappear.
“I’m glad to be back in business and I love what I do,” Jones said, adding he's also glad to have the support of his loyal customers.
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call Barrie police at 705-725-7025, ext. 2702 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
