NORTH BAY -- North Bay is still gripping with the reality that there will be a gaping hole in the downtown core after a Friday morning fire.
One resident said the results of the fire are "disheartening and it's another blow to the downtown."
For hairdresser Nancy Caliciuri, seeing the images of her former salon building crumbled on the ground is very emotional. Caliciuri moved her business to her house 3-years ago, however, she feels devastated that her old building is gone.
"It's a loss of a huge, huge era. Like so many memories. So many memories and so many people walked through that salon," she expressed.
Caliciuri operated her salon in the building from 1982 to 2016. It was her first job, and now 38-years later, she still remembers meeting with the other downtown merchants and chatting with clients in the old space.
"It was home for me. I raised my kids down there in that salon. The people I met in my life all came through those doors."
The fire started in the early hours of the morning and took firefighters nine hours to extinguish, sending one firefighter to the hospital with frostbite.
Despite the fire officially being deemed suspicious, fire officials say the cause of the blaze cannot be determined because of the extent of the damage.
Caliciuri says she feels for the staff of the Nurse-Practitioners Clinic and the Literacy Nipissing. Both offices opened up shop there earlier this year.
"It was definitely very, very sad. I shed a couple of tears yesterday," she expressed.
Only a pile of rubble remains, but the memories of time spent in the buildings will be cherished forever.
