Fundraiser started for owners of the Douglas Trading Post
Posted Jan 9, 2026 11:59:43 AM.
Last Updated Jan 9, 2026 11:59:49 AM.
A fundraiser launched after a devastating fire destroyed the livelihoods of the owners and claimed the historic old tavern in a small Ottawa Valley town.
A GoFundMe page started by relatives of Dan Peters and Amanda Todd is hoping to raise money for the couple who recently bought the Douglas, Ont. business and attached historic hotel.
Located just off Highway 60 in the Township of Admaston and Bromley, and known to locals as “the old tavern,” the building recently opened as a diner and was seeing great success. Around 8:00 p.m. on Monday, smoke and flames could be seen from the diner portion of the business, and that’s when Randy Boyer was told about his mother’s and stepfather’s situation.
Boyer told CityNews in an interview that the tense phone call sounded like firefighters were trying to get the smoke under control. But what transpired was a difficult battle in which the area’s fire chief, Bill McHale, said the blaze outsmarted the crews.
For several hours, teams doused the flames that were first found between one of the three ceilings in the diner. Due to the flammable materials and the difficult spot, crews could not get it under control before it quickly spread to the attached residence of Todd and Peters.
“They didn’t grab nothing except for the clothes on their backs,” Boyer said.
Three dogs and the two owners escaped from the home, but the estimated damages are between $5 and 7 million.
The building was more than just a business and home to the small community, which Boyer says is more like a large family. It was an institution that played a vital role in bringing people together.
Despite being new to the area, Peters and Todd were quickly a part of the community, Boyer said. The attached residence to the diner was an old hotel, where the pair lived, however it had several more rooms than the couple could ever use.
“They would help people out and rent rooms,” Boyer said. “I do believe there was two people that had had rooms in there and obviously all their stuff was lost.”
When the pair moved to Douglas in 2021, they wanted to restart the tavern, but put a fresh spin on it, which is how the Douglas Trading Post was born. The fire chief, whose family owned it before Todd and Peters, said that the couple were careful to keep the “Douglas” in the building.
Before it burned down, Boyer said the building was a charming historic feature.
The hotel had several floors with rooms, and most of them did not have lights inside. Along with the lack of electricity, very few rooms in the hotel had outlets, something Todd and Peters were slowly renovating.
Boyer said the residence had a boiler system, and the couple had just finished replacing windows to reduce the draft in the winter.
When the fire broke out, the family lost everything. Boyer said irreplaceable items like his stepfather’s and mother’s engagement rings, and his late grandmother’s China cabinet, are among the personal pieces that are the hardest to stomach.
“It hurt quite a bit to find that out when the hotel was up in flames,” Boyer said.
The money from the fundraiser will go to Todd and Peters to help them get back on their feet.
Despite the tragic incident, Boyer said the two are not planning on leaving Douglas.
“My step father said to me last night , ‘We are not leaving. We love this community. We’re not going in where we’re going to try and do something here.”
Whatever money is left over from the fundraiser, Boyer said the couple will likely use to start a new legacy in the town.
