On the morning of Wednesday April 25th, day was just beginning to break as the fruit and vegetable stall workers turned up for work at the Midland Military Markets. The workers busied themselves preparing for the day when they heard the fire sensors go off. Before long, glass was popping out of windows and a fire was tearing through the complex. The fire raged until after lunch and destroyed nearly all of the market stalls. While luckily no one was injured in the blaze, the 600+ market workers have been devastated by the damage. Most of the shop owners did not have insurance or were underinsured, which has left many concerned for the future of the markets and the businesses represented there.
As well as being popular with LGBTI patrons, there were a number of LGBTI owners and workers based at the markets. One of the store owners, a lesbian who wished to remain anonymous, had opened a new store barely three weeks before the markets were destroyed by fire. She told OUTinPerth that while she hoped the markets will be rebuilt, she was not particularly optimistic about their future.
CCI Midland is looking at possibly fundraising to rebuild or help those who lost their livelihoods in the blaze.
