Rhyl garage owner 'devastated' to have to close after blaze
A huge blaze broke out at the Douglas Estates at Ffordd Las on Wednesday evening (June 24), resulting in one person being treated for smoke inhalation after crews had battled to put the fire out.
The damage caused has created uncertainty for some of the businesses at the estate, with three premises suffering varying degrees of damage.
The extent of the damage where the fire took place. (Image: JMS Vehicle Repairs)
James Jooste, who owns JMS Vehicle Repairs, has had to shut the business indefinitely with “half the roof missing” and smoke damage to much of the interior, including customers’ cars.
Mr Jooste said he will have to liquidate the business and “start all over again”, having not slept in two days after trying to clean up the site and recover whatever equipment he can.
“I'm alive, half the building obviously isn't, but it is what it is,” James told the Journal.
“I've got half my equipment already out of the building. I've been very, very fortunate.
“We've been here for just over a year and we were flying and things were going really well, and then now this has happened.
“They are probably going to condemn the building - they've got to put a new roof on because half of it is missing.
The blaze which took place at the estate. (Image: Kyle Ethan)
“When they do that, I'm not going to be able to work from here for a minimum of a couple months, and I know that. I've got bills to pay. I've got cars to fix. I've got people who want their cars back.
“So, our plan now is relocation because the building's completely unfit and unsafe for me to work from.
“I've got customers’ cars that are quite badly damaged from the smoke, like the interiors, because the windows were left open inside the garage. I'm currently paying for all of them to be clean.
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“I'm not covered for what's happened and neither is the other garage that's gone up in flames because I never thought that I would have to pre-empt someone else.
“When I moved into this building, it was just me - it was only me that I had to look out for.
“I've got the appropriate insurance for people if they hurt themselves and the loss of people's equipment - cars and keys and bits and pieces - but not fire damage from another garage.”
He said he was fortunate to have had lots of support from the community and that his situation was “looking brighter” after securing a new unit with the help of a friend.
James Jooste, owner of JMS Vehicle Repairs (Image: JMS Vehicle Repairs)
He continued: “I don't have lots of earnings or anything set up so I'm screwed.
“I'm having to liquidate JMS and basically start all over again, uproot all of my equipment.
“I'm very lucky I've had a lot of people reach out to me and say ‘I've got a unit here. I've got a unit there’ and things are looking brighter.
“It looks like I've got myself secured into another unit with a friend of mine I've known for a long time. So I'm currently moving all my stuff over there but I think we're going to end up working together and rebuilding JMS in a different location.
“It's ruined me. I’ve put my heart and soul into this, proper blood, sweat and tears into this place.
“When I started here, I was here doing 12-hour shifts, digging up the concrete by hand, so I could put my ramps in so that I could fix cars.
“When I got the phone call that this place was on fire and they wouldn't let me in and I couldn't see what damage was being caused to the building, I just sat on the curb and cried because this is my entire life.
Firefighters respond to the blaze. (Image: Harley Maitland-Price)
“I spent the last three years of my life not taking a wage and just coming to work every day just so that the lads have got wages – I’ve had no business loans, I've had no money income from anywhere else. I've done it all myself.
“Before I've even been able to reap a single reward from it, because we've only just got to a point where we're now properly set up, it’s gone.
“I’ve got a young baby at home and just because of somebody else’s negligence the whole thing's been taken away from me, which is absolutely gut-wrenching."
Another business, Sit Stay Play, located next door, has also closed with its owner having "heard nothing" about when it can re-open.
But despite JMS Vehicle Repairs having to vacate the site permanently, James vowed to "rise up again" and "keep going".
"I've not slept in about two days because I can't, because my brain's just going 1,000 miles an hour," Mr Jooste added.
"I've just got to get earning money again because I've got people's cars that need cleaning. I've got people that need their cars back.
“Everyone's saying you should be taking time for yourself, but I don't have time to take for myself because nothing's going to get done.
“I'm a really positive guy. I probably shouldn't be in this situation. But the more people know about how genuinely devastated I am about all of this and the fact that I'm going to keep going and I'm going rise up, the better.”
