Sharon’s convenience store report

Sharon Kane, area manager at Henderson Retail in Northern Ireland, on devastation at one of her stores.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in late May, the hottest day we'd had so far this year, and I was sitting 'out the back' catching up on emails after another hectic week.

My phone started to ring and the words I heard made me jump right out of my sun-lounger, "Sharon, your shop in Whiteabbey is on fire!". I immediately jumped into my car.

The store is situated on a busy main road, along the coast, and the traffic was chaotic as the intensity of the fire had forced the police to close off the road. The whole store roof was on fire and the two adjoining units, a bookmakers and a chip shop, were also engulfed. At one point there were nine fire engines in attendance. Newspaper reporters and TV crews were there and most of the village came out to watch the Spar store go up in flames. The firemen battled for around four hours to bring the blaze under control.

It was devastating for the store manager and staff, and heartbreaking to see them stand there and watch their store and all their hard work go up in smoke.

Eventually, the fire crew let the manager accompany them into the store to retrieve personal items, such as car keys and handbags, so the staff could get home. The building was still extremely dangerous, however, because the roof was caving due to the pressure of the water used to put the fire out.

The fire had spread upwards and across the roof top and, while the shop floor was not burnt, the smoke and water damage was horrendous. At this point it was starting to get dark and our main objective was to make the building secure overnight. Fortunately, our property department - another great support team from head office - was on site to take control.

As I drove home, the enormity of what had just happened was starting to sink in but in reality was just beginning - I had 23 staff with no shop to go to on Monday morning - it was going to be a busy weekend...

Next month, find out about the challenges faced in the days immediately after the fire.

Sharon Kane: fire challenge