Kate Kuntz is proud to be from North Bay but these days she is very hesitant to say she feels safe in her hometown anymore.
The owner of Hoagies Diner at the corner of O'Brien and the bypass in North Bay has her restaurant doors shut due to a suspicious fire that took place early last Thursday morning.
The fire sent a tenant from the rear of the building to the hospital and has forced the two other businesses in the building - including the restaurant - to close indefinitely.
See related: Early morning fire on the bypass; one person injured
See related: Police investigating cause of early morning fires
Police are still investigating the cause of the morning blaze which was one of three suspicious fires that took place early that morning in less than a two-hour time frame.
"It is so disheartening because it feels like nobody is safe anymore," admits Kuntz after hearing the fire that shut her doors may have been intentional.
"I don't want to say that North Bay is not a great town because it is, but we always band together here when something needs to get done and North Bay has been amazing for that."
She feels like North Bay is starting to become a really scary place.
"Who wants that," she said.
"Who wants to always have to lock their doors all the time even when you are walking in and out. Who wants to be scared that somebody is going to chase you down the street. Who wants to be scared that your business will start on fire? Nobody and it seems to be - and maybe I am feeling a little more sensitive because of what happened - but it just seems to be more than it has ever been and it is out of control and I can't tell you how scary it is right now."
See related: Police say unknown men following women is a problem in North Bay
The fire comes only a week after an employee from the nearby Comfort Inn alleges that she was chased by an unknown man while walking home from work
"You are not even safe walking home anymore and that is a super scary thing especially during COVID-19," she said.
"We want to be outside enjoying it and then we have to be looking over our shoulder every five minutes not knowing what is happening behind us so it is just so disheartening and I wish things could change because this is a great town with great people."
She admits that the fire has caused more challenges than she ever could have imagined as she wonders what the future of the longtime restaurant will be.
Kuntz had to get rid of all the food stored in the fridges and cupboards in the restaurant from bags of flour to the small ketchup packages.
"What is savable and what is not is up to the adjusters so we have to figure that stuff out," she said.
The indefinite closure also forced Kuntz to lay off two more employees including one staff member who had worked at the restaurant for well over 20 years.
"It is devastating because we do not know when we are going to be open, if we are going to be open, are we going to move somewhere else if we can't open in that spot - like everything is kind of up in the air," she said.
"Do I want to still have Hoagies Diner? Absolutely. That is not something I want to give up unless absolutely necessary but if we do have to move somewhere else we will move somewhere else and open up in another location."
