Business owners and family grappling with devastating loss after deadly fire

Fire at Barrie Paintball torches business and home Fire spreads to Barrie Paintball, destroying the business and upstairs apartment, leaving family with nothing.

As many were preparing to settle in for the holidays, a local family had their life flipped upside down.

On Saturday morning, a fire that started from a parked vehicle spread to the home of Barrie Paintball and is estimated to have caused $700,000 in damage between the building and its contents.

While officials said everyone escaped unharmed when the fire in a wooded area off the 10th Line in Essa Township broke out, there was plenty of loss.

The Clark family lost their business, and owner Mike Clark's six-year-old canine companion died in the blaze.

The fire also spread to the apartment above the family business, displacing a single mother and her two young daughters and destroying everything they owned. Their eight-month-old puppy also perished.

A GoFundMe has been started for the family to help Sarah Thompson and her daughters rebuild their lives, needing everything from housing and mattresses to clothes and school supplies.

The Clark family said the experience has reminded them to appreciate what they have, especially at this time of year, because it can all be gone instantly.

The Ontario Fire Marshal's office is continuing its investigation into the incident.