Tenants reel after devastating fire at east Hamilton comic book store

Tenants returned to their apartment on Ottawa Street North Monday afternoon, looking to salvage any items that survived a devastating fire Easter Sunday.

The blaze destroyed several residential units and the businesses below them, with the early damage estimate sitting at around $1 million.

A couple who had rented one of the units impacted by the fire for nearly four years say they were watching a movie when one of them noticed something was wrong.

“I saw the flickering of the orange. And as soon as I opened my back door, our whole back room was engulfed in flames. So I just slammed the door and said ‘okay, we’ve gotta go,’” said Aaron Antaya, who lost apartment in the fire.

In the moment, Aaron and his partner Mel say they grabbed what they could and made it out of the apartment safely with their two dogs.

“I grabbed my daughter’s ashes and then her favourite toy as a kid because those are the only things that I could honestly think of in such a crazy situation,” said Mel.

The fire department says improperly discarded smoking materials are to blame for the blaze that started at the back of the building around 3:30 in the afternoon on Easter Sunday. Fire crews say the flames quickly spread to the roof.

“And everything burned so fast. I barely remember coming down the stairs, there was so much smoke. And I looked behind me and my whole living room was on fire. Everything I’ve ever owned in my life, just gone,” said Mel.

Today, Mel and Aaron returned to see if anything else was salvageable — finding pieces of art and Mel’s 1980s My Little Pony collection had survived.

WATCH MORE: One injured, several others escape house fire in east Hamilton

Downstairs, it was a similar story for comic book store and gift-shop Nerdcore, who opened shop seven years ago.

“Everything is pretty much ruined, smoke damaged, water damaged. We have insurance that will cover contents, but it doesn’t cover loss of income,” said Keith Arana, owner of Nerdcore.

Co-owners Keith and Angie Arana say they’ll be closed for the foreseeable future as they took stock of their store today. Keith was at the shop when the fire broke out.

“Just as we were on the phone he said, ‘I smell smoke.’ So he took me outside and he said within eight seconds the whole side of the building is on fire,” said Angie.

The fire impacted the two neighbouring buildings, including the Ottawa Street location of HAMBRGR.

They say they’re going to be closed for an indefinite amount of time for repairs and that could be the next several months.

On the other side of the building, Earls Court Gallery will need new doors after they were smashed by crews fighting the blaze. But the owner says he considers himself lucky to not be dealing with major smoke damage.

“The worst we got was, I’ll call it almost peripheral smoke damage. The fire chief called it something like ambient smoke … and of course, the front door damage. That was basically it for us, we were lucky,” said Bob Daniels, owner of Earls Court Gallery.

The gallery is set to reopen tomorrow.

Firefighters estimate the damage will exceed $1 million.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for tenants Mel and Aaron, and for Nerdcore.

READ MORE: None injured after blaze at Hamilton comic book store: Hamilton Fire