FAT Paint survived, just barely, after the big fire in downtown New Westminster earlier this year.

In March, Victoria Lambert and her brother Bradford moved their new designer paint company into a two-story space with exposed brick and a mezzanine on Front Street.

In October, they faced disaster when their business was one of several affected by a fire that destroyed three buildings on the corner site bounded by Columbia, McKenzie and Front.

The FAT Paint sign is gone, but you can still see the company’s blue facade. It is on the remaining half of the condemned building that is soon to be torn down. Black scorch marks from the fire are visible on its west wall.

Victoria Lambert said her company lost all of its paint-mixing equipment used to make its brand of paint that can be easily distressed to create an aged patina. Most of its stock of paint was destroyed, too. On the Saturday following the fire, both Lambert and her brother were briefly allowed back to salvage what they could. It wasn’t much.

“In essence, we lost everything,” she said. “We had to rebuild from scratch.”

They had insurance, but not enough to cover what she estimates was $75,000 in damage.

How did FAT Paint manage to rent a new space, just two weeks after the fire?

About $10,000 in savings.

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“We had a little bit of money in the bank that was earmarked to pay off certain bills and pay the rent for Nov. 1,” she said.

“If we didn’t have that money, we would not have been able to buy a new mixer. We wouldn’t have been able to secure a new place to house our business. That’s just simply luck. If we didn’t have that money, we would have been desperately waiting for insurance money.”

With the help of the local Chamber of Commerce and the city of New Westminster, FAT Paint has been able to get back to business and start filling orders again. But it has been a struggle. It still hasn’t been able to open its own retail area in its new home on 11th Street in New Westminster.

“(Retailers) waited about a month and a half before we could get orders to them,” she said. “We’re teetering on failure. We see it as quite serious.”

The fire on Oct. 10 destroyed landmarks such as the Copp’s Shoe Store in the Ellis building. All that is left of the buildings is a pile of rubble several metres high. The fire is still under investigation.

Some of the businesses such as FAT Paint have been able to relocate. Some had no insurance and were completely wiped out. Others saw the fire as a sign they should retire.

The loss of about a dozen businesses and the people and customers they represent is being felt by those who remain.

Ana Matovinovic, owner of Localo, said she had to close for 10 days after the fire. She is now one of two antique and collectible stores left on Front Street. She wonders about the neighbourhood’s future as Antique Row.