Mallory Cypher didn’t have any issues with Pet Paradise before the fire. Her dog Teddy survived the August blaze
By Spencer Philps
Mallory Cypher’s husband dropped their dog, Teddy, off at Charlottesville’s Pet Paradise on August 26 before the couple went on vacation. The boarding facility operates in nine states, and Teddy, a regular at the Harris Street location, seemed to love it there. Cypher says the staff was great, and she never had any issues.
Two days later, while Cypher was still on vacation, she received an email from Pet Paradise: There’d been a two-story fire at the facility, and emergency workers were rescuing pets and administering oxygen to the animals that needed it.
She spent the rest of the evening trying to determine Teddy’s whereabouts, calling all of the area’s veterinary hospitals to see if they had any idea where he was. Eventually, she tracked him down at a local vet, and learned that he’d been unharmed by the fire.
For most pet owners—many of whom see their dogs or cats as members of their family—Cypher’s story sounds like something out of a nightmare.
While almost all of the 78 pets in the facility at the time were rescued (one dog, Bailey, was found dead a mile and a half from the location), the fire has revealed perhaps an even more troubling fact for local pet owners: the absence of laws and regulations that govern the pet care industry. At the time of the blaze, the Charlottesville Pet Paradise didn’t even have a fire sprinkler system installed.
The Code of Virginia has few laws pertaining to pet boarding facilities. It requires them to provide adequate food, water, shelter, exercise, space, and emergency veterinary care, but provides no specifics on what these elements ought to entail. Virginia also has no required licenses or inspections for facilities such as Pet Paradise.
In early 2017, Ellie Carter made the decision to take her dog, Levi, to a boarding training facility in Afton. One night, she received a text from the trainer saying that Levi had escaped from his kennel and gone on “walkabout.”
“I’m like, how does my dog take himself on a walkabout when you’re in charge of him?” Carter recalls.
She and her husband were unable to find Levi that night, and spent the next three months looking for him. Carter said that once she informed the trainer that she expected him to reimburse them for their search efforts, he cut off all contact with them. They later found Levi’s remains in Albemarle County. Carter eventually discovered that the trainer didn’t have a business or local kennel license, both of which are required by Nelson County law.
The ordeal inspired Carter to learn more about the laws that govern the pet boarding and training industry in Virginia. She was dismayed with the little that she found.
“There’s just nothing,” she says. “There’s no rules or regulations.”
Carter says she’s spoken with a state politician about drafting legislation on the issue, but nothing has come of it.
“I think it’s kind of scary,” she says. “Pets are part of people’s families.”
Other local pet owners say they’d noticed signs of concern at Pet Paradise well before the fire, and felt that they had no way of holding the facility responsible.
In May, Caleigh Saucier dropped off her goldendoodle for a summer haircut. When Saucier returned to pick up her dog later in the day, it’d been shaved so completely that she was unsure if it was her dog.
“She was not responding to her name [and] she seemed really traumatized, and we noticed later when we brought her home that she had scabs on her ears from the clipper maybe cutting off the edges of her ears. She had these bald spots all over her chest and her tummy,” Saucier says.
Saucier and her husband repeatedly attempted to get into contact with Pet Paradise, but their calls and messages went ignored.
“We felt kind of helpless because we had no way of holding them accountable.” she recalls.
Erica Goldfarb, another former Pet Paradise customer, had a similar negative experience when she dropped her dog off for boarding.
“It was just chaotic.” she says. “They didn’t really know what they were doing, and I just remember leaving and thinking I am never coming back here.”
The local Pet Paradise manager, Dustan Sweely, says they take special precautions when grooming dogs that require excessive shaving, and that the chaos Goldfarb observed could have been explained by the recent transition of ownership and new policies.
“We have thousands of clients that come here on a weekly basis, dropping off, picking up, boarding, the whole nine yards, and we take reviews seriously,” Sweely adds.
Pet Paradise CEO Fernando Acosta-Rua said several new measures will be put in place to ensure the safety of the pets at the Charlottesville location.
“We were obviously within code [at the time of the fire], but our goal going forward is going beyond code and ensuring that we’re doing everything to prevent something like this from happening again.”
Acosta-Rua says that in addition to setting up a sprinkler system in the building, the Charlottesville facility will now also have a staff member on location 24 hours a day.
UVA alum Bruce Kothmann, who was removed from the steps of the Rotunda in May for reading a Bible without permission, tested restrictions again in July by waiving a gay pride flag.
Bruce Kothmann
By Jonathan Haynes
Despite the controversy over the University of Virginia’s revisions to its right-to-assemble policies, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has awarded the university its highest free speech rating.
FIRE, a group that defends the constitutional rights of students and faculty in higher ed, ranked UVA as a “green-light” university, along with with 42 other universities out of the 466 it monitors around the country, ahead of “yellow light” James Madison University and “red light” Virginia State University.
“We classify schools as red, yellow, green light based on how well the First Amendment is upheld at public schools and how well any school follows its own policies,” says Robert Shibley, the executive director of FIRE. “UVA has generally done a pretty good job.”
UVA alum Bruce Kothmann stirred debate over UVA’s campus speech policies last May, after an officer removed him from grounds for reading a Bible on the steps of the Rotunda without the university’s permission.
A viral video of the stunt shows an officer calmly listing newly prohibited activities to Kothmann, who asks if “reading the Bible aloud” is included. After pausing and flailing his left arm, the officer says, “Apparently.”
The revised “time, place, and manner” policy was written by the Dean’s Working Group, a steering committee established by UVA’s then-president Teresa Sullivan after a crowd of torch-bearing neo-Nazis set upon a small group of protestors surrounding the Jefferson statue on August 11, 2017.
The policy restricts people who wish to exercise their First Amendment rights and are not UVA students, staff, or faculty to one of nine designated areas, among them Nameless Field and the McIntire Amphitheater, where they may assemble with a maximum of 25 to 50 people for no more than two hours. Non-affiliated persons must request permission between one and four weeks in advance. Violators may be banned, but are typically just removed.
Shibley doesn’t foresee any legal challenges because the policy is content-neutral and justified by a safety interest. The policy “passes constitutional muster,” he says. “But I think it’s very disappointing that the university adopted it.” Nonetheless, that didn’t prevent FIRE from giving UVA the green light because its policies don’t interfere with student expression.
UVA modeled its revisions after the University of Maryland’s time, place, and manner restrictions, which were upheld by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Kothmann, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Pennsylvania was visiting his alma mater last May to see his daughter, who had just completed her second year at UVA. He had read about the policy in the UVA alumni newsletter and, unable to shake it from his mind, decided to test campus enforcement.
The revisions proved controversial before their release, drawing criticism from members of the Faculty Senate Policy Committee Council. And some activists, students, and faculty had been pressuring UVA to ban specific organizations, since alt-right marchers were the perpetrators of on-campus violence August 11.
UVA banned 10 individuals involved in the torch march, but maintained that it is constitutionally forbidden from banning people or groups for ideological reasons.
“Times are changing, context is changing,” says Curry School professor Walt Heinecke. “Maybe it’s time for UVA to start legally pushing to see how far it can move that discussion.”
Critics lament the policy’s chilling effects on protest. Both Heinecke and William Keene, a professor of environmental science at UVA, point out that past on-campus protests against racial injustice, the invasion of Cambodia, and the ouster of Teresa Sullivan would not be permissible under the revised policy.
Shibley agrees that the policy could have negative consequences: “During the civil rights movement, non-students were coming on campus to engage in discussion and protests,” he says, adding that fewer interactions with the community will limit students’ exposure to different perspectives.
The policy has stirred little reaction from students, however, who are still free to protest. Student groups that are officially registered with student council may also invite an unlimited number of non-affiliated persons to grounds, but groups that are not registered, such as UVA Students United and the Living Wage Campaign, could be affected.
When the on-campus protests for the anniversary of August 11 and 12 presented an opportunity to test the policy’s enforceability, UVA ended up enacting security measures that far superseded the policy’s parameters, such as requiring clear bags, installing metal detectors and fencing around campus, and vastly restricting the plaza around the Jefferson statue, where UVA Students United and other activists had planned a protest.
But besides Kothmann, there are few known instances of people being removed for violating the policy.
And Kothmann has violated the policy several times without incident since his removal. In July, he waved a gay pride flag on the Rotunda steps and reported himself to the university counsel. After an hour without a response, he reported himself to a receptionist inside the Rotunda. “I saw you,” she said. “Do you need a drink of water?”
Outside of UVA President Jim Ryan’s inauguration on October 19, Kothmann and his daughter handed out flyers about the restrictions to several administrative officials. Many of them took one, including Ryan. On November 2, Kothmann reported himself for juggling pomegranates in the McIntire Amphitheater. Nobody responded.
Correction January 3: Robert Shibley’s name was misspelled in the original story.
The Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia performed the second of two annual holiday concerts at Old Cabell Hall on Sunday, December 2. Photo by Martyn Kyle
As Charlottesville’s character has broadened, so has its classical music scene, which is now largely driven by community efforts to build the culture.
When Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach began transforming the sounds we were used to hearing, 250 years ago, people said it was the death of classical music,” says Benjamin Rous, music director of the Charlottesville Symphony. “And they have been saying that, for one reason or another, ever since. But classical music is still very much alive.”
Classical music is easy to find around Charlottesville, especially during the holidays. In fact, for classical music devotees, Charlottesville is an all-year-round kind of town, with choices from instrumental to vocal, large-scale to chamber, medieval to modern. “Whether for performers or audience members, this broad category of music we refer to by the sometimes narrow term ‘classical music’ has something for everyone,” says Michael Slon, music director of The Oratorio Society of Virginia and associate professor and director of choral music at the University of Virginia. “And for a town our size, there’s a tremendous array of offerings.”
A symphony orchestra, an opera company, and a large-scale symphonic chorus—Charlottesville has had all of them for decades. Being a university town helps, but as Charlottesville’s character has broadened, so has its classical music scene, which is now largely driven by community efforts to build the culture.
Major players
The Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia, while based at UVA, has been run by the nonprofit Charlottesville Symphony Society since 1976. Fifteen of the orchestra’s 16 principals teach music in some capacity. The rest of the musicians are other faculty, UVA students, and members of the Charlottesville community; Executive Director Janet Kaltenbach notes “most of our musicians are well qualified to play in any professional orchestra in the country.” The Symphony presents five concerts a year, scheduled around the academic calendar—and around home football games, which shut down access and parking around UVA’s Old Cabell Hall, one of its two performance venues.
Janet Kaltenbach is the executive director of the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia. Photo by Martyn Kyle
The Charlottesville Opera began 40 years ago as the Ash Lawn Opera, offering summer open-air performances at James Monroe’s home. In 2009, the company moved its base of operations to the Paramount Theater, where it could offer larger-scale productions and draw bigger audiences. Two years ago, the company became the Charlottesville Opera. Martha Redinger, a current board member active with the organization since 2004, is proud of the Opera’s record of showcasing young singers who have gone on to become top-notch opera stars; its recent fundraiser featured nationally known bass-baritone Eric Owens, whose first paid professional gig was at Ash Lawn in 1992.
The Oratorio Society of Virginia celebrated its 50th anniversary last year with a commissioned choral work by Virginia composer Adolphus Hailstork, based on a poem by UVA professor and Pulitzer Prize-winner Rita Dove. The chorus is made up of about 90 auditioned amateurs who range from recent UVA voice majors to retirees. (Full disclosure: this writer is a member.) The Oratorio Society is affiliated with UVA’s McIntire School of Music (music director Slon also leads UVA’s choral groups), but its driving force is community volunteers.
The Virginia Consort, now in its 29th season, grew out of the Oratorio Society; building on the first group of 25 singers, Consort founder and music director/conductor Judith Gary has created a constellation of chorales. The Chamber Ensemble, about 40 voices, performs twice a year; additional singers are auditioned each year to create the larger Festival Chorus, which presents one large choral work with orchestra. The Youth Chorale program includes the High School Chorus and the Treble Chorus (both directed by Gary) and the Prelude and First Step Choirs (directed by local music and vocal teacher Donna Rehorn).
The Virginia Consort’s Festival Chorus performs a large choral work with an orchestra each season. Photo courtesy Virginia Consort
Chamber music and more
Charlottesville also has a long-standing and rich chamber music scene. The two major players, the Tuesday Evening Concert Series (called TECS, and started in 1948) and the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival (begun in 1999), are by design complementary: from October through April, TECS offers a season featuring touring national and international stars, while the Festival’s September performances highlight emerging artists and edgier works. “We push the boundary of what chamber music is,” says Festival founder and board member Elsie Thompson, “and our audiences are willing to come along.” (All the classical groups in Charlottesville agree the audiences here are knowledgeable, enthusiastic and loyal; “the ecosystem here is exceptional,” says Rous, who took up the Symphony’s leadership in 2017.)
For chamber music fans willing to travel a bit, Staunton presents a top-notch music festival in August; Wintergreen stages a music festival in July-August; and Harrisonburg hosts the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival every June (not to be confused with the non-classical Shenandoah Music Festival held in Orkney Springs).
Bringing the Paramount Theater back to life—an effort which Thompson helped steer—has given the Chamber Music Festival and other classical groups a larger performance space (in addition to popular venues Old Cabell Hall, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center at Charlottesville High School, and First Presbyterian Church). The Oratorio Society holds its annual December concert at the Paramount, performing large-scale choral works with orchestra members. The Opera holds its two annual performances there (one a classical opera, the other a musical theater work), hiring local players for its orchestra and building its own sets. Fingers are crossed for spring 2019, with music supporters hoping that the UVA working group on university-community relationships might include the building of a top-class performing arts venue in its recommendations to President Jim Ryan. “We’re the only state university in Virginia that doesn’t have one,” says Kaltenbach.
Trevor Scheunemann (right), who has sung with the San Francisco Opera, the Washington National Opera, and the Opéra National de Bordeaux, rehearses for last summer’s production of Charlottesville Opera’s The Marriage of Figaro. Photo by Amy Jackson Smith
Victory Hall Opera, on the other hand, believes small is beautiful. This newcomer was launched three years ago by international opera singers Brenda Patterson and Miriam Gordon-Stewart, along with opera director and Charlottesville resident Maggie Bell. Patterson says, “We saw Charlottesville as a place that would support a newer, more innovative concept of opera, led by singers and based around singers.” Rather than the opera industry’s model of freelancing a production’s star roles, Victory Hall’s troupe of 12 singers fashions a season of small works—some classic, some contemporary, some original. The group has staged productions in PVCC’s Dickinson Theater, Alderman Library, Vinegar Hill Theatre, and (a groundbreaker) Monticello.
The money problem
Large or small, every organization faces the issue of funding—calling on volunteer board members, staff, and members to seek grant money and work on fundraising, in addition to selling tickets (which cover only around 25 percent of costs). Common grant sources are the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Maurice Amado Foundation, the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, and the Bama Works Fund of the Dave Matthews Band. Charlottesville isn’t home to many large corporations (i.e., potential donors), but local banks—Union Bank, Virginia National Bank, and Wells Fargo—are frequent contributors. In addition, each group has its base of loyal individual donors who love classical music, want to see it performed, and believe in its value for the community.
Every classical music group makes an effort to keep ticket prices reasonable, and offers subscriber discounts as well as cut-price or free student tickets. “We’re a university town, and people who live here—or move here, or retire here—expect a vital cultural scene,” says Karen Pellón, long-time executive director of TECS. “But people here also expect the concerts to be affordable, even though we are often bringing in the same artists they would pay far more to hear at Washington’s Kennedy Center.”
The Paramount’s director of operations and programming, Matthew Simon, faces the same challenge. The Paramount can bring in national names like this season’s big star, world-renowned pianist Murray Perahia. But top artists charge top fees, so Simon has to balance that cost with what he feels the Charlottesville audience will bear. In the meantime, the Paramount’s broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera’s “Live in HD” programs offers a higher-quality screen and space than most of the Met’s national network—“a better Met Live experience than you’d get in most big cities,” Simon notes.
Three Notch’d Road’s Simon Martyn-Ellis plays the theorbo during the baroque ensemble’s recording session at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Greenwood. Photo by Mathias Reed
Early music
The smaller groups, which often perform more intimate works, rely on the area’s churches, which make wonderful settings for the early music (medieval, Renaissance and baroque) that Charlottesville is particularly rich in.
Three Notch’d Road, founded in 2011 by local musicians Fiona Hughes, Anne Timberlake, and David McCormick, presents baroque music played on instruments of the period. Concerts have included “Bach Comes to America,” and a recent program on Polish baroque music that was inspired by a sonata found in violinist Thomas Jefferson’s collection. The ensemble’s 20 professional musicians live and perform around the country. Hughes, now the group’s artistic director as well as a baroque violinist, says one of her goals is “introducing the music of the past in ways that overcome our assumptions about the past—for example, people are often surprised at how bright and active medieval music can be.”
Since 1991, Zephyrus has presented works of the medieval, Renaissance, and baroque periods, primarily vocal, although their performances will occasionally include professional instrumentalists. Its 16 to 20 singers are all local and nonprofessional. Megan Sharp, the group’s music director, says its music is well-suited to a church space such as St. Paul’s Memorial, Holy Comforter, or Emmanuel in Greenwood. Zephyrus has “quite a committed following” for the three or four performances it gives each season, says Sharp; the group is increasingly drawing young people and, especially this time of year, “people who want something that’s not the commercial stuff.”
Members of Zephyrus, which performs primarily vocal works of the medieval, Renaissance, and baroque periods, rehearse for their December 7 concert. Photo by Martyn Kyle
MIRA was begun in 2005 by local singer Raven Hunter, with an informal group singing Renaissance polyphonic vocal music that grew into an ensemble of 12 to 18 performers. “Our singers are professional, or semi-professional, or could be,” says Hunter. “I audition to keep the group small; the music we perform is usually six to eight voices [choral parts], and their sound has to blend well.” MIRA’s repertoire may extend back to medieval works, or forward into the 20th century for composers like Benjamin Britten who incorporate earlier styles.
The newest addition, Fire, is a small women’s a cappella group started by retired church musician and singer Linda Hanson as “a birthday present to myself.” Fire’s repertoire is sacred music from medieval to modern, “from what you would hear in a worship service to broadly spiritual,” says Hanson. Its public performances, held on the fourth Sunday in October and on Mother’s Day each year, benefit PACEM, a local organization that coordinates space and volunteers to provide shelter to the homeless.
Making it happen
“If you love music, make it happen” is a recurring theme. All of Charlottesville’s classical music groups are community-driven, from boards to donors to performers. Thompson—who, in addition to sitting on the board of the Chamber Music Festival, is also on the boards of the Oratorio Society and the Opera—says, “I’m not a musician, I can’t sing or play an instrument,” but she believes “music is a gathering place for the community.” Most small cities don’t have their own baroque ensemble, says Three Notch’d Road’s Hughes, but “I live here, and I really wanted to bring this wonderful music to our area.” The Consort’s Gary recalls that when her small group began meeting to sing together, “We didn’t intend to perform, but we had so much fun we incorporated.”
Karen Pellón, executive director of the Tuesday Evening Concert Series, says “we’re a university town, and people who live here expect a vital cultural scene.” Photo by Eze Amos
Another success factor: synergy. The groups informally network to avoid performing the same works, or on the same dates. Each group has its own niche, so they aren’t competing for audiences (or donors). And the groups cross-fertilize, which expands their offerings and audiences. The Symphony performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Oratorio Society and UVA’s leading choral group, the University Singers. The Opera has staged concert performances with the Oratorio Society as chorus. The Oratorio Society has appeared with the Wintergreen Music Festival and the Roanoke Symphony, and included the University Singers as well as local church and high school ensembles in its concerts. Both the Symphony and Three Notch’d Road have performed with UVA’s Chamber Singers, its smaller chorus.
To misquote Mark Twain, it seems recent reports of the death of classical music are greatly exaggerated. “It’s a wonderful thing for people to be making and experiencing music on a regular basis,” says Slon. “The Oratorio Society’s programming is geared to the singers, to our audiences, to possibilities for creative collaborations, and to a belief in the music itself.That’s part of our role, to be an advocate for the music.”
Now hear this
As you can see from our roundup of upcoming performances, there’s something for every music-lover this month, from performances to WTJU’s Classical Marathon.
The faint smell of smoke surrounding the city Tuesday morning is coming from two large wildfires in Nelson and Amherst counties, according to Charlottesville Fire Department Chief Andrew Baxter.
The situation in Nelson County, referred to as Eades Hollow Fire, is currently consuming between 300 and 500 acres of private land just north of Lovingston, according to John Miller, the Virginia Department of Forestry’s director of emergency management. He says he expects his crew to finish containment lines late today and there is no immediate threat to the public.
In Amherst County, however, the Mount Pleasant Fire has taken over 2,711 acres as of this morning, with the majority of it consuming national forest land, which is controlled by the United States Forest Service, and with less than 10 percent of the fire contained at this time.
Miller says his department is working with the national forest service to evacuate some private homes scattered along the southern side of the area. With new resources, he says he hopes progress will be made in containing the fire today.
A recent IX Art Park benefit concert raised several hundred dollars that will be split among three businesses that were damaged during the June 29 fire on the Downtown Mall. Photo by Martyn Kyle
The June 29 Downtown Mall fire that started in Ike’s Underground Vintage Clothing and Strange Cargo also has temporarily closed Miso Sweet Ramen + Donut Shop and Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar.
The Tea Bazaar suffered from “a fine layer of smoke dust over all of the restaurant including the office and hookah lounge,” says owner and manager Gwendolyn Hall. “Since the dust is highly corrosive we had to get all of our fridges and electronics cleaned in order to prevent further damage.”
Pending any unforeseen setbacks, the Tea Bazaar was planning to reopen Tuesday, July 12.
Miso Sweet, which opened last August, also had a considerable amount of smoke damage, most of which has been cleaned, according to owner Frank Paris. “We still have a few spots left to clean up and we hope to paint to help get rid of any remaining smells,” he says. “We are a new restaurant, so being closed during this time has hurt us quite a bit, as we really need to be open to continue building our customer base.”
He expects Miso Sweet will reopen July 18. “The major problem we may be facing is damage to our equipment,” says Paris. “Anything that is electrical and has copper coils, such as refrigerators and ice makers, could become damaged as the soot that has built up inside them can become corrosive and eat away at these units.”
Miso had to throw away nearly $4,000 in inventory. Fortunately, the restaurant has a good insurance plan, says Paris, but he still has to deal with customary delays with insurance adjusters. And the restaurant will no longer be able to participate in Restaurant Week (July 15-23).
Ike’s Underground, which sells antiques and other vintage products, was hit the hardest because many items in the store are impossible to replace.
The owner of Ike’s, Ike Eichling, told CBS19 that it will take several months for the shop to reopen.
To support the stores, local artist Haylee Powell created a GoFundMe campaign out of “love, pure and simple,” she says. “These three businesses were a staple for me when I first started to visit Charlottesville. The Tea Bazaar, especially, was a safe haven for me; as an artist there is little other public spaces to go to in order to create artwork.”
The campaign’s funds will go to employees who are out of work, and Powell’s GoFundMe has raised $1,122 to date. A benefit concert for the three businesses was also held July 8 at IX Art Park. The concert raised around $500, to be split among the three businesses.
The fire started at Ike's Underground and black smoke spread to the surrounding businesses.
Staff photo
It was nearing lunchtime on the Downtown Mall when smoke began pouring out of the building that houses Ike’s Underground Vintage Clothing and Strange Cargo, Miso Sweet and Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar.
Next door at OpenQ, CEO Otavio Freire was in his office, which “filled up very quickly with smoke,” he says. “The smoke was coming in through the brick wall.”
The Charlottesville Fire Department received a call around 11:45am to 414 E. Main St., says Captain Joe Phillips. “A crew arrived to find a basement fire” that was quickly put out, he says.
Even after eight fire trucks and vehicles pulled onto the mall, black smoke was seen coming out of Twisted Branch’s second-floor windows.
Everyone in those buildings and in buildings on the south side of the 400 block of the mall was evacuated, and no one was injured, says Phillips.
The cause is under investigation, but firefighters were overheard saying an electrical fire started in the basement at Ike’s.
The building was the scene of a small fire in 2006 shortly after Eppie’s opened in the space where Miso Sweet is now located. “We were doing our own laundry to save money, and some clean rags—in a laundry bag, but still hot from the dryer—spontaneously combusted,” says Eppie’s owner Dan Epstein.
“We were lucky,” he says, because the bag was dropped at the front door on a Sunday and put out within about 10 minutes. If it had been anywhere else in the building, it would have been a different story, he says.
—with additional reporting by Jessica Luck and Melissa Angell
