Work is underway to determine the cause of four fires in Salisbury over the weekend.

One destroyed the town’s only grocery store with the others in a vacant building and two other storage-type structures.

Salisbury Fire Chief Bradley Macleod says the Office of the Fire Marshal is investigating the root cause of those fires.

“If they determine there’s anything suspicious, RCMP will help with the investigation,” Macleod adds.

He adds it’s not often the team of 27 volunteers has four fires in one weekend. “Typically, we don’t have structural fires very often. Maybe one or two
every couple of months.”

Many have been left sore and exhausted, and they’re thankful for the help of several other departments that assisted in fighting the fires, including Petitcodiac, Elgin, Moncton, Riverview, and Dieppe.

“I don’t think people realize that it (Independent Grocer) served more than just the community of Salisbury. It’s more than just a grocery store; it’s also a community space. There are actually a lot of individuals from Moncton who come into our town, and it’s a grocery store for a larger region,” he says.

Campbell adds that it is a tragic loss that the town has lost its Independent Grocer; the firefighters were able to save two adjacent businesses, the Great Canadian Dollar Store and an insurance company.

“We have to look for our blessings where our blessings are. No one was hurt, no staff or firefighters,” Campbell stressed.