It was only two days after last Christmas when an explosive bang shook a suburb.
In Belconnen, doggy doors blasted open, windows rattled, pictures scattered across floors.
Residents braced themselves, thinking there was an earthquake.
At about 7.30pm on December 27, 2021, an explosion erupted within the Turkish Kebab and Pizza shop on Rae Street.
The owner of the building was set on fire, his skin burning, as all the businesses in the building were impacted.
The explosion was caused when a large number of aerosal based fumigation cans were accidentally ignited, ACT police said.
No one was found to be at fault.
It has been a year since the explosion, and the Kingsley's Chicken shop has only just announced they expect to reopen around the middle of January.
On December 14, the shop announced: "the Belconnen store rebuild has only just commenced and the builder has informed that with Christmas ... it will take about 5 weeks to be reinstated."
When The Canberra Times spoke to franchise owner Azhar Javed after the fire in December, he said he expected the shop to be operational in about a months' time.
It is understood the delay was largely caused by insurance battles.
Other business owners said they have been left broke and demoralised after the explosion.
Sumaira and Mohammed Ikram had set up their Jazaa Halal Foods shop a month before the fire destroyed everything.
A year later, and Mr Ikram said they are still waiting to know what will happen to them.
"We felt as if we lost our lives. The smoke came out of shop burned all our dreams, hopes and hard work," Mr Ikram said.
"We are not left with anything. We are kind of finished."
The couple only had basic insurance, which did not cover any losses of stock, or internal damage.
"With the number of difficulties we started this business, having premium insurance was not in our budget," he said.
"We invested all our savings, plus took some help from family and friends and sold out all our assets in starting this business.
"We borrowed money from family and friends in establishing it [but on] one unfortunate day ... our shop and our dreams burned in [a] fire."
It is understood that another impacted establishment, Chinese joint Liang's Restaurant, also did not have adequate insurance.
The popular restaurant remains closed.
Mr Ikram said owner of the Turkish Kebab and Pizza Shop, Zaheer Ahmad, has started another business in Belconnen, and does not plan to return to Rae Street.
The C3 Church in Belconnen has also re-opened, while the Autoco smash repair shop across the road still has cracked glass windows.
However, the Ikrams said despite turning to police, local politicians and the building owner, they have been left in limbo.
The family took out extra insurance from NRMA the day after the fire, hoping it will cover them retroactively.
But with a limited understanding of how to navigate a complicated system, they said their calls for help have been ignored.
"We approached police, everywhere for justice but no luck yet," Mr Kiram said.
Ms Ikram credited University of Canberra GP Dr Georgina Flanagan for helping the family survive the last year.
She is working in childcare, while Mr Ikram drives a taxi.
They still have hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, which they don't know if they can ever repay.
And the explosion has left more than just financial scars.
Mr Ikram and his teenage sons Wasay Ashiq and Adnan Rao watched as their family shop went up in flames.
The three had been chatting to Mr Ahmad, whose young sons were in his car, when Mr Ahmad returned to his shop.
Mr Ikram and his sons said that within seconds the ground shook and smoke filled the air.
Mr Ikram ran inside to get Mr Ahmad, as Wasay ran to the car with the children and called triple zero.
Even now the Ikrams avoid the area, not wanting to look at the battered building, their old shop, and the broken dreams it represents.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
