Gnowangerup IGA manager Tina Nymann reveals moment she stopped fire ripping through the store and rebuild work

Gnowangerup’s supermarket manager has revealed the terrifying moment she fought to stop her store from burning down and the relentless push to set up a temporary grocery store in its stead. Tina Nymann was printing tags for the weekly specials at Gnowangerup IGA on March 26 when the power suddenly went out. As she went to check the electrical box, the power flickered back on — and smoke began rising from the console. “I did my best and emptied two extinguishers on the metre box as there were flames coming out of it, then I had to run because I couldn’t breathe,” Ms Nymann said. “I didn’t think I had done anything, but the firefighters told me if I hadn’t done that, we would have lost the building.” Despite her quick action, the fire rendered the town’s only supermarket unusable, triggering a wave of community and government support to ensure no one in Gnowangerup went without food. Since the fire, Ms Nymann has barely slept, working around the clock to set up a temporary IGA store in the Gnowangerup Lesser Hall. “Right now I have four electricians here, a guy from Perth installing the tills and EFTPOS and back office systems, two 40-foot containers for the freezer and chiller waiting outside, and our first truck coming in tonight,” she said. “We started with nothing and now you’ve got to organise everything — it’s a lot of work. “All my hard work went up in smoke, literally, and that was really sad.” The community response has been swift as the Shire of Gnowangerup arranged a bus service to take residents 60km to the nearest grocery store in Katanning three times a week, hosted a community barbecue, and supported IGA’s transition into the hall. Shire president Kate O’Keefe said the response has been “huge” and “heartwarming”, specifically praising Ms Nymann’s determined effort to assemble a makeshift store. “The shire was really quick to offer them a space and was really quick to make sure them not having a premise wasn’t an obstacle,” she said. “Our larger town hall is getting a new ceiling, so we’re using the lesser hall as a temporary measure, then will move into the larger hall when renovations are finished in about three months.” Cr O’Keefe expects the halls will house the makeshift supermarket for around six months, until it is safe to return to the original building. The rapid setup has been supported by donations of shelving and refrigeration units from local businesses, power upgrades to the hall, and round-the-clock work by both Shire and IGA staff. Meanwhile, charitable organisations have stepped in to support residents, with the Rapid Relief Team providing up to 80 meals a day for a week following the fire. Cr O’Keefe said the assistance meant people had “one less thing to think about”. “If this happened in the metro area, you’d just go to the next closest shop — for us it’s about food security,” she said. “We have vulnerable and time-poor members of our community who don’t have the means or time to get to Katanning or Albany. They need to be able to access groceries.” She said the supermarket was a lifeline for many. “In a small town, the supermarket becomes a bit of a community hub,” she said. “Some people go in there every day just to have that human interaction and if someone didn’t show up, staff would ring around to check on them. “You can’t overstate how important the store is to the community.”