Above and left: CFA crews battle a blaze at Snuggle Bug Baby Shop in Hallam on Sunday night.By Callan Date
A MILLION-dollar Hallam baby business has gone up in flames, but its devastated owner has vowed to keep delivering for her customers.
Shattered owner Sandi Wear is struggling to come to terms with the fire that completely destroyed her Snuggle Bug Baby Shop on Sunday night.
A showroom full of prams, baby clothes, furniture and cots were turned into ash and rubble after fire ripped through the Hallam South Road property.
However, Ms Wear is determined to track down all customer orders and make sure everyone gets the stock they have requested.
“I just want them (customers) to hang in there with me until I can sort through everything,” Ms Wear said.
“I’m just trying to retrieve some files and get in contact with our people who have lay-bys.”
Ms Wear said it was too early to say if the family-owned business would ever be rebuilt.
“I don’t know. It is all just so much at the moment,” she said.
Ms Wear said the shop had customers from right across Australia with orders waiting to be sent as far as Sydney now nothing but ash.
“There will be provisions made for people who have orders pending. They will get their stuff. They just have to hang in there and they will get their stuff,” she said.
“I don’t know how we will do it, but we will.”
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Hallam Fire Officer Michael Lia said Country Fire Authority (CFA) crews were on scene for more than five hours. He said the recent purchase of a thermal-imaging camera proved to be a vital tool in helping contain the blaze.
Mr Lia said “it was a very hot fire” with a huge load of baby furniture adding to the fuel.
He said the $20,000 camera was able to pick up heat stresses and structural damage in walls and alert firefighters to any possible dangers before they happened.
“Due to the structural damage of the building the firefighters had to withdraw and do an external fire attack,” Mr Lia said. “The camera allowed firefighters to see through the smoke and then we could direct water on to the fire from the outside.”
Mr Lia said CFA crews from Narre Warren, Hampton Park and Dandenong were on scene, with help also coming from as far as Frankston and Patterson River CFA.
