Craig Pearson thought his boss was just playing another prank on him when he first got the devastating call on Labour Day last year.
“I just said ‘yeah right.’ because he often makes jokes like that. But then I thought his voice doesn’t sound quite the same,” said Pearson.
After working tirelessly for months renovating what formerly was Oasis Gas on Highway 97 just north or Oliver, the news coming via the telephone call that a fire had gutted the business was shocking enough to be a bad joke. But, it wasn’t.
“Arson,” said Pearson who now wears a EZ Fuel golf shirt with pride as he enthusiastically shows off how they have risen from the ashes to hold a soft opening just last week.
No arrests have been made to date, but RCMP said there were witnesses who saw two youth fleeing the building just before the fire started. EZ Fuel was just days away from the official opening when Pearson got the call from owner Terry Feeny. What took four months to accomplish was reduced to rubble in just a matter of six-and-a-half hours, the time it took the Oliver Volunteer Fire Department to contain the blaze. The roof was fully involved and the fire was working its way through by the time they arrived.
“It definitely was a huge shock. Local people were just waiting for us to open because they all liked having the station here instead of driving into town. It was great to finally get so close to be opened, then to have someone burn it down on us was horrible,” said Pearson.
The bad luck didn’t end there, thieves started finding their way onto the property to scour through the rubble. Pearson said wiring was going missing. He found some at the end of the property, dumped because it was made of aluminum and worthless, other coils were unwound and snipped away at. Then someone stole the battery out of the forklift. But they were determined to bring the gas station back to life.
A couple of months after the fire, Pearson and owner Feeny picked up where they left off. By the beginning of November they started building again, making sure the exterior walls were as fireproof as possible this time around, adding energy efficient lighting and heating/cooling systems. Luckily the tanks were empty at the time of the fire and the pumps were planned to be coming in a few days later, saving them from some financial loss and potentially a more disastrous outcome.
Last Tuesday they pumped their first tank of Esso gas.
“We are so thankful to everyone. From the firefighters, to the RDOS who were great to deal with. We have fantastic tradespeople who we sourced locally and we are thankful for all the support and kind words we have received from the surrounding community,” said Pearson. “People have been coming in saying they are so glad to see us open. To have their support, we couldn’t ask for anything more.”
The store itself is still a little sparse, they have convenience store staples, as they just wanted to get the doors open. By the time they hold the grand opening (Pearson said hopefully in May) they plan to have 24 flavours of ice cream along with sorbet, sherbet and diabetic types from Foothills Creamery, a wider selection of convenience store items and eventually a deck and pergola built on the side of the property overlooking the river. The EZ Store is also one of the first in B.C. to have a Country Style coffee kiosk, a company well known in eastern Canada. Pearson said they have installed a top-of-the-line water filtration system that is plugged into the coffee and slushy machine and will be used to with their own ice maker.
The owner of the store and property will also be using the site for two new businesses: EZ Bins storage and EZ fencing. Available for lease is a 1,600 square foot space that could easily be divided into two stores. Pearson said they’ve spoken with people looking to potentially open a cold beer and wine store, a bakery, a deli, a sushi restaurant and a fishing tackle shop.
“No one has pulled the trigger yet, but we think this is a great location with a lot of potential, especially with the announcement of the prison being built in close proximity, the amount of people living in this area that don’t want to drive into town to get food and the summer tourists,” said Pearson.
EZ Fuel and Store is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, but Pearson said the hours may flux depending on what the traffic is like and it will most likely be open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the summer months.
