Fire destroys greenhouse on off-grid Dawson City farm
Off-grid farm which supplied produce and flowers to local markets, restaurants
A fire has damaged a greenhouse on a farm north of Dawson City that provided fresh produce to the community's waterfront market as well as local grocery stores and restaurants.
The Dowdell & Digby Farm is about 12 kilometres upriver from Dawson City on an island in the Yukon. Its owners, Grant Dowdell and Karen Digby, have used its three acres to grow produce and flowers for more than 30 years.
"Grant and Karen make a tremendous contribution to Yukon's agriculture and the damage to the farm is a huge blow to the Yukon," said Dawson City Fire Chief Jim Regimbal. "At the end of the day they're not going to be able to provide what they normally provide the community."
Regimbal describes the fire as a "devastating blow" to the farm's greenhouse. The farmers' house was not damaged.
Regimbal says the fire happened on May 2, but fire services were not called at the time as its owners usually communicate by email.
On May 5 the fire chief created a fundraising page at www.gofundme.com to help the farmers. As of Wednesday evening, it had raised more than $2,000.
'This will have an impact on Klondike food security'
Dawson City resident Sebastian Jones posted on Twitter "this will have an impact on Klondike food security."
One Dawson City restaurateur agrees.
Florian Boulais is co-owner of Alchemy Café.
"If they're not able to harvest this summer it's going to be a challenge for us to find the same quality of produce they were bringing," Boulais said. "Their produce was absolutely magnificent. You can't really find that on the market. Not in Dawson City anyway."
During the summer the farm also grows flowers which decorate many of Dawson City's historic buildings, hotels and homes.
Dowdell and Digby were recognized in 2009 as Yukon's Farmers of the Year by the territorial government.