A trailer sales and repair business that was passed from father to son went up in flames near Parksville on March 14th, and the sentimental losses were significant.
Jordan Piccolo is the owner and operator of Kitt Equipment Trailer Sales. Last Tuesday, what firefighters believe to be an electrical fire ignited and burnt everything inside the small business.
At around 7 p.m. last Tuesday, Piccolo was informed by a neighbour that his business had ignited.
“I was in the house with my daughter,” Piccolo told Victoria Buzz. “My neighbour came banging on my door saying my shop was on fire.”
“My daughter ran around and by the time I got there it was already full of smoke.”
Piccolo’s family home is on the same land as the business, so he was able to get there as soon as he knew about the blaze, but it was already too late for his business and all that was within the 6,000 square foot building.
“Once I realized my side wasn’t savable, I ran over to my tenant’s side and started pulling out as much stuff as I could before it was all filled with smoke and I couldn’t get in there anymore,” said Piccolo.
His tenant that shared the building was another small business called Raincoast Erosion Control Ltd. They too lost much of their products and the entire building was reduced to an ashy skeleton.
In Piccolo’s heroic efforts to help his neighbour and tenant, he suffered second-degree burns on his hands and smoke inhalation which affected his ability to breathe.
Documents were lost and so were a lot of personal belongings including quads, motorcycles and a priceless, vintage car passed down through his family. That vehicle as well as the business were passed to Piccolo in 2018 when his father passed away.
“My grandfather built it originally and then my father did all the bodywork and paint on it and then when they passed I was left it,” Piccolo told Victoria Buzz.
Although nothing could bring those priceless heirlooms back, a GoFundMe campaign was started for Piccolo by one of his close friends.
“Jordan is a very kind-hearted man who helps many people along his path, his loss of tooling to support his business is a critical piece to rebuild,” wrote Brody Davis who started the GoFundMe campaign on behalf of his friend.
“The funding will be used for Jordan to get the tooling, shop supplies and personal items required to open his doors again to make a living for him and his daughter.”
“100% of the funds collected will be going directly to Jordan.”
As of Thursday, March 23rd, there is over $4,800 which has been raised to help Piccolo replace the irreplaceable. The goal of the fundraiser is set at $100,000.
