Blatchford business broken into, public fire pit damaged in same night

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A Blatchford business owner says a break-in and fire this weekend are “heartbreaking” hits to the fledgling community.

Shortly before midnight on Saturday, The Growlery Beer Company co-founder Kevin Danard received a notification on his phone that the alarm system at business on Airport Road had been breached.

By the time he and police arrived, the burglar had fled west with some beer from the brewery’s cooler, leaving behind a damaged front entrance and security system panel.

It is the first time the company has been targeted since opening the location four years ago.

“I guess deep down we kind of expected that at some point it was going to happen, but when it happens, it’s heartbreaking,” Danard told CTV News Edmonton on Sunday.

Edmonton Police Service confirmed it is investigating, but had no other information to give.

BecauseDanard stayed at the brewery that night to fix the entrance as best as he could, he was the first to spot a fire at the Blatchford community’s new warming hut across the street.

The hut – essentially an outdoor fire pit with seating and free wood – opened this month.

“I see this big orange glow just past the [control] tower and so I’m like, ‘Well, it’s 2:30 in the morning; I can’t imagine anybody’s out there having a fire,'” Danard recalled.

“I just grabbed my extinguisher and ran. It wasn’t even a thought. I ran there, made sure nobody was inside the shelter at the time, and just started hitting it with my extinguisher.”

Firefighters put out the blaze within 15 minutes.

As of Sunday, fire investigators had not determined how flames broke out and police were not involved. 

The hut’s metal structure and fire pit did not appear to be damaged, but a portion of the wood available to the public was burnt.

“We’re a little bit depressed about what happened last night, especially in our community out front. Nobody wants to see that kind of stuff happening, especially in a newer area like this where we’re trying to attract people to the area,” Danard commented.

“It seems like things are starting to get worse and worse,” he added.

“We’ve had a number of things go missing from our back alley area. We do have a camera back there, but we’ll probably pick up at least a person a week trying to get into our sea cans or just taking whatever’s not bolted down back there.”

EPS could not confirm on the weekend whether reported crime has increased in the Blatchford community.

Although Danard has expenses to deal with because of the break-in, he’s been uplifted by the support from the community and industry.

“I had a number of breweries reach out to me today and just say, ‘What can I do to help?’ … We had an outpouring of support from [customers] as well.”

The Blatchford redevelopment office could not be reached for comment.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Miriam Valdes-Carletti