The general manager of an iconic Victoria pub that went up in flames Wednesday says damage to the building isn’t as bad as originally thought.
Claire Radosevic, GM of Spinnaker’s in Vic West, says she was reassured by a walkthrough of the pub a day after a blaze erupted from a second-floor fireplace, prompting staff and diners to flee during a busy lunch rush.
“We got a chance to look inside and get our belongings out and stuff, which was nice,” she said. “The damage doesn’t seem to be as extensive as we were led to believe yesterday, so we’re feeling positive.”
Radosevic said power has been turned back on to the craft brewery on the premises, and the pub tweeted Thursday that brewing equipment was found “in good shape, unharmed by the fire.”
Guest houses on the property were also unaffected by the blaze and remain open for bookings.
“The building itself is safe, it’s good to go into. There’s just a back area where the fire damage was in the roof, and a lot of water damage that they’ll have to deal with,” said fire investigator Brad Sifert. “Structurally, it appears to be fine.”
Sifert said after a tough week in which three fires have broken out in Greater Victoria, including a fatal blaze Tuesday night and one at a townhouse complex Friday that left dozens of people homeless, it was heartening for crews to save the historic building, deemed Canada’s first brew pub.
“They’re really happy with how it turned out, and you can see it in their faces. They’re around the community, they love this place and what it brings to Victoria,” he said. “It’s good to get out there and actually get a save.”
Radosevic praised the quick actions of firefighters to prevent any further damage to the building.
“The firefighters yesterday were just amazing. Everybody was amazing to work with, super helpful, our heart goes out to them. It was pretty special,” she said.
Dozens of employees are out of work until the pub can reopen, but Radosevic said owner Paul Hadfield has reassured workers that they’ll have a job to come back to.
“We’re keeping everybody on staff. Spinnakers, we have over 100 employees and we’re like a big family here,” she said. “The owner Paul Hadfield is out of town right now but his messages are just to keep everybody positive, everybody happy, they’re going to be taken care of and we’ll get things going and rebuild as soon as possible.”
While a number of Christmas events booked at the pub will have to be cancelled, the business said it is making arrangements with other restaurants in town.
Investigators confirmed Thursday the fire sparked in a second-floor fireplace and was not a chimney fire.
“Over time, if you look at the hearth, it degraded to the point that the ceramic protection that was there, the brick, it eventually wore away,” said Sifert. “So it exposed a little bit of the metal which led to the fire.”
The pub is now working with a restoration company which will continue to assess damage and the timeline for a rebuild.
