Building fire sets back opening of new Cambridge store

The opening of a new Cambridge store has been pushed back several weeks following a fire on Sunday night. CTV's Hannah Schmidt reports.

The opening of a new Cambridge store has been pushed back several weeks following a fire on Sunday night.

Waterloo Regional Police said they were called to 11 Walnut Avenue after a man was seen entering the vacant building.

Inside, officers discovered a small fire in one of the back rooms.

They were able to put out the flames before they spread.

The man, a 24-year-old from North Dumfries, was arrested at the scene and charged with arson and break and enter.

The building may have been vacant, but plans were in the works to fix up 11 Walnut Avenue.

The property was formerly “Grand River Medicinal,” an illegal cannabis dispensary. It was shut down by police on Aug. 14, 2024.

Manuel Fagundes and his daughter Tracey bought 11 Walnut Avenue with the intention of turning it into a retail space with everything from home goods to accessories.

Sunday’s fire threw a wrench into their plans.

“I rushed down here to see what was going on and the extent of the fire,” Tracey said. “I just saw the white or yellow powder everywhere, from the fire department putting out the fire. I started cleaning up in here because that’s really all I could have done.”

She also intended to install a security system inside.

“We were coming down to set up cameras,” said Tracey. “Well, that’s been postponed now because we have no hydro.”

The Fagundes are now focused on addressing the damage inside the building.

“One of the barrels that I was going to be using for the desk space, for a rustic look, they tried to light on fire,” Tracey explained. “[We’ll] try to get the smell of the smoke out of here so we can get it opened up.”

Father and daughter are also trying to make sense of this setback.

“I can’t understand what they’ve got to gain from that,” said Manuel.

He hopes the fire was an isolated incident.

“There’s not much I can do,” he explained. “Just put up surveillance cameras, build it and hope that police spend more time down here during the nights and patrol it a little bit better.”

The Fagundes are thankful the damage to 11 Walnut Avenue wasn’t worse.

- With reporting by Hannah Schmidt