Lauren Howard was at home, recovering from a cold, when she got the news that Sweet Beet Market and Café, the store she’d spent the last decade building, was on fire.

It was the last thing any business owner wants to hear.

“It was just shocking and concerning,” said Howard, the cofounder and director of operations at Sweet Beet. “I was very relieved when I learned more about what was going on and what had happened and how it was a very isolated incident.”

The fire broke out last week right in the back of the kitchen, but it didn’t spread far and fire crews did what they could to limit the damage.

The Bradford market, known for selling produce from local farms, was closed to the public that day, which is typical on Tuesdays. One of Howard’s team members spotted smoke and acted fast by shutting off the propane to the kitchen.

Howard, who lives ten minutes away, threw on her shoes, grabbed her jacket, and rushed to the scene.

Fire crews from Bradford, Henniker, Warner and New London worked for hours to extinguish the flames and put out any hot spots. While the cause is still under investigation, early signs suggest it started within the walls of the building, forcing firefighters to tear through parts of the kitchen.

“My first thought was just making sure everybody was okay and then it was just seeing the hole in the wall later,” said Howard.

The real challenge, though, came after the fire was out.

Smoke contamination meant every inch of the market had to be scrubbed clean. Any exposed food had to go. That meant pounds of fresh produce—potatoes, onions, squash—were all lost.

“Food safety rules require that we are very careful about what we sell and provide,” said Howard. “So we couldn’t even donate it or make use of it ourselves, or anything like that lest we unwittingly poison ourselves.”

While Sweet Beet’s market is back open and repairing its kitchen, the overwhelming support from the community has been a silver lining in an otherwise tough situation, said Howard.

Farmers pitched in by adding extra produce to deliveries, suppliers offered generous discounts, and locals stopped by to shop, picking up whatever was available.

“That was amazing,” said Howard. “Our community of shoppers came in and continued to support us and show up even though we had maybe some limited supplies at the time.”

 

Sruthi Gopalakrishnan can be reached at sgopalakrishnan@cmonitor.com