Update
It could have been worse.
A fire at Off The Beat Pub was heading towards a gas-powered hot water heater this morning.
But Fire Chief Brad Shirley says when a staff member opened the back door shortly after 9 a.m., she spotted a pool of water on the floor and then saw a fire in the back room.
Firehalls 2 and 3 responded and quickly extinguished the flames.
Shirley says there was paper and “different debris” on the floor, but had burned the walls and the ceiling.
“We believe the fire broke a waterline and although it didn’t extinguish the fire it kept it from getting to the hot water heater,” he says, pointing out that while there would not have been an explosion, the gas would have certainly powered a much larger fire. “It could have been bad, but a sprinkler system that wasn’t supposed to be a sprinkler system worked.”
Firefighters were on scene for about two hours. The fire was contained to one area of the building where there is fire damage, but smoke damage spead throughout the building.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but Shirley says it is not considered to be suspicious.
Original story
Salmon Arm firefighters are on scene of a fire in the Off the Beat pub, located on Lakeshore Drive SW.
An Observer reporter on the scene says the natural gas has been turned off and firefighters are inside the building.
The building is now being ventilated.
Salmon Arm RCMP members have established a perimeter to keep people out of the area.
More information will be provided as it becomes available.
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