A building that was home to seafood restaurants for decades on Nanaimo’s waterfront has been heavily damaged by an early morning fire.
Firefighters were called to the scene at 2:15 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 19, to find the building 1340 Stewart Ave., engulfed in fire.
Capt. Ennis Mond, Nanaimo Fire Rescue’s chief fire prevention officer, said his investigation team had little information so far about what started the fire, but said the damage was “quite extensive.” Fire damage was visible in the basement, throughout the main floor and roof of the building.
“When crews arrived, fire was involved in the basement and spread to the upstairs already,” Mond said.
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The building, which was formerly home to Nauticals Seafood Bar and Grill and in the 1970s and ’80s was home to the Chowder House, had been vacant since 2015. Mond did not know if anyone was in the building at the time of the fire.
“It’s a vacant building. There’s supposedly a caretaker that looks after it and keeps an eye on it,” Mond said.
Crews managed to contain the fire to the building and prevented it from spreading to a building next door.
Several spent fire extinguishers littered the ground around the rear entrances to the structure, but Mond had no information about who might have tried to fight the fire prior to firefighters arriving on scene.
Several residents living aboard boats moored at a small marina behind the building were left without power or water as a result of the blaze.
The property, which includes the marina and a second building, which was home to the now closed Iron Wok, had recently been listed on the real estate market for $5.9 million.
This story will be updated as new information becomes available.
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