A fire early this morning (February 2) has destroyed the historic PG Towns and Sons General Store in Douro, which just reopened last year as Towns and Leahy Mercantile and Deli.
At around 1:30 a.m., a neighbour spotted the building in flames and called 911.
Firefighters battled to save the building, but the structure was destroyed. Fortunately, there were no injuries.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, and fire crews remain on the scene.
?Douro Dummer township firefighters remain on scene of a structure fire at the former P.G Towns General Store in Douro that broke out earlier this morning.
Fire crews were called around 1:30 a.m.
Check back for more information as it becomes available.
Posted by Harrison Perkins – Peterborough/ Kawartha Lakes News on Friday, February 2, 2018
After 125 years as a cornerstone of the Douro community and four generations of the Towns family running the shop, PG Towns and Sons General Store finally closed its doors in September 2016 — the victim of the changing retail landscape of big box superstores.
Nancy Towns, along with Bernard and Lise Leahy, opened a new store — Towns and Leahy Mercantile and Deli — in the building in May 2017.
The store was the subject of a recent documentary, called Towns End, by local filmmaker Megan Murphy.
Katie Ellement Photography was also located in the building.
This story will be updated as more details become available.
