The Massage Salon in Cobram faces six-week rebuild after fire
The Massage Salon in Cobram caught fire in a freak accident overnight last Tuesday.
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Towels combusted through the night on September 15 causing the entire shop to be engulfed in flames, resulting in what owner Darren McAllister can only describe as “excessive” damage.
“The whole salon (has) been damaged, it is a full rebuild,” he said.
“The towels were pulled out of the dryer once finished, thrown on the couch and they combusted through the night.
“Everything is full of smoke, massage tables, everything — the back kitchen is fully burnt out, and three washing machines and two dryers were melted.
“It has all been signed off as an accident and builders will be here next week.”
While he couldn’t pinpoint an exact return date, Mr McAllister speculated the shopfront wouldn't be ready to reopen for another six weeks.
And in business terms, that is simply too far away.
So, Mr McAllister has been forced to improvise.
“I’m trying to pop up somewhere else because we have a lot of customers to look after,” he said.
“It is probably looking like six weeks until we are back up and running, and that is just too long.
“We have to get the girls back working.”
Mr McAllister was blown away with the all the messages and calls following the incident, and wished to thank everyone for their support.
“We really appreciate the support from the local community and businesses, it has been overwhelming,” he said.
“If everyone can keep an eye on Facebook, we will keep people notified of when we will be reopening.
“It has been a bad year; hopefully this is the end of the bad and it is all up from here.”