Long road to recovery for Midvale shop owners devastated by recent fire

The treasured business - eponymously named Stewart's Bakery - was to be their retirement nest egg; something to which they could tirelessly devote their energies for five or so years before easing into a congenial retirement.

But what seemed like a perfectly foreseeable future was upended by the wholly unforeseeable five weeks ago.

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In the late hours of an otherwise uneventful Saturday evening, a fire bomb of flames suddenly engulfed the tobacconist shop next door, before sweeping into Stewart's Bakery and devastating everything within reach.

Within hours, the smell of smoke, ash and broken dreams had entirely eclipsed the once inviting smell of giant iced donuts, freshly baked marble rye bread and an assortment of slices, pastries, cookies and specialty pies - all of which had helped secure the bakery its enviable clientele.

Though no one was injured in the blaze, it left a damage bill in the bakery within the vicinity of one million dollars. It impacted other businesses, too, including the corner post office - which suffered extensive smoke damage - and the neighbouring gym and chicken shop, all of which were forced to close.

And little over a month on, the emotional and psychological toll of the blaze remained nearly as acute as the physical ruin left in its wake.

"The night it happened, everyone was the same - gutted, just gutted," Mr Stewart said. "I used to start [baking] at 2am every morning; I still wake then but now it's because I don't sleep - I can't sleep.

"Every night my wife and I go to bed and are awake within the hour and then every other hour after that."

Mr Stewart said it was the combined stress and uncertainty occasioned by his plans to rebuild - which was expected to take at least six months - and the lingering shock of the blaze which was denying him sleep.

But at the forefront of his concerns, he said, was the wider impact of the fire on the Mount Clear community, many of whom had come to rely on Stewart's Bakery and the neighbouring shops for their routine shopping and social needs.

"The oldies always liked to have a chat," he said. "[The fire] really hasn't just affected me; our whole Mount Clear community has also been impacted."

It's a sentiment shared by Brian McKinnis, the proprietor of the corner post office, who for precisely that reason had re-opened in recent days, notwithstanding his conspicuous lack of floor stock.

"There's been a lot of customers impacted, especially older ones or those who prefer to come in to pay their bills," he said.

"So, we want people to know we've re-opened, because it's important they know they can get back to their routines.

"We lost over $100,000 in stock; everything got ruined from the smoke but we're starting to get bits and pieces together."

While the chicken shop was also expected to possibly reopen by the week's end, both Mr McKinnis and Mr Stewart said further disruption was almost inevitable, given the probable need to replace the whole roof of the shopping strip.

"We know we'll have to close again soon when the roof is pulled down," Mr McKinnis said, pointing at the damaged ceiling tiles.

"They're also talking about replacing the outside tin and maybe the metal [ceiling] beams, if they can't clean the soot off."

While the road to recovery appears to be long and difficult, the devastation of the fire is now, at least, starting to be replaced by a shared determination to rebuild.

"We've got to rebuild the shop and our customer base - every one customer at a time," Mr Stewart said.

"Our customers have told us that they'll be back once we're back - I just hope the community hangs in there until we get going again."

A police investigation into the cause of the fire and its surrounding circumstances remains ongoing.

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