'Absolute disaster': Thrift shop a total loss after car crashes through window, setting store ablaze

Only ashes and a heavily damaged building remain from the Goodwill Store on Pembina Highwayafter it went up in flameswhen a car crashed through its front window Tuesday morning.

Doug Chase, operations manager at Canadian Goodwill took a walk through the building with the insurance company to survey the damage.

"It's definitely a shutdown, we've been assessing the damage with the insurance company. It's an absolute disaster," said Chase.

"Hopefully it's not something that will keep us down for very long."

At the time of the crash, three staff members and three customers were inside, but managed to escape before emergency crews arrived.

For the time being, the staff at the store will be relocated to one of the other four Goodwill Stores across the city.

"Any staff that has been displaced from this incident will be moved to other locations so they don't need to worry about feeding their families," Chasesaid.

"We always want to take care of them."

The crash happened around 11:15 a.m. after two vehicles collidedand one rammed through the front of the Goodwill, according to Winnipeg police.

The car caught on fire, which quickly spread to the rest the building, according to a release from the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service. Emergency crews arrived to heavy smoke and flames.

The driverwas sent to hospital in stable condition, according to police, who had no information on the person's age or gender.

Watch flames,smoke leap from burning building:

Car crashes into business on Pembina Highway

6 years ago

Duration 2:27

A Winnipeg thrift store is on fire after a car crashed through its front window. (Courtesy David Swim)

Proper training

Chase saidthe company recently began reviewing their plans to dealwith a potential fire.

"About a week before, we had set ourselves up with a fire escape plan. Everything turned out well. They escaped to the back and everyone was safe."

"We're just in the plans of implementing it across all locations."

He added that staff members were originally "shaken up," but were OK after a little while.

'Super-duper scared'

When crews arrived on scene, they evacuated adjacent buildings to the north and south of the fire as a precaution. One of those businesses wasCrown Nails and Spa next door, where those inside witnessed theaftermath of the crash.

"We were just scared and looking at the fire, and everybody was just scared. It was very big, very tall," said JuliePham, 9, whose parents own the nail salon.

"It looked like a black cloud. I saw a little bit of fire going up. We were very super-duper scared."

The family even helped one of the victims of the crash.

"One person was dizzy, and came to our store for help , my parents helped them," she said.

"They wanted to help people."

Winnipeg policeare investigating to determine what led to the collision

No damage estimates are available at this time.