A local watering hole is in ruins after an early morning fire July 7.
Someone making a delivery called in the fire at Sidney’s Blue Peter Pub and Restaurant around 3:40 a.m.
Police were on hand as Sidney Fire doused the flames in the 2200 block of Harbour Road, with an assist from Central Saanich and North Saanich departments.
“No other surrounding buildings or vessels were involved in the fire … There is an insurance business on the top floor that’s destroyed,” said Cpl. Chris Swain of Sidney North Saanich RCMP. “It appears that both businesses are a total loss.”
The Sidney Fire Department had two engines, a ladder truck and more than 20 firefighters battling the blaze.
“When we got there it was pretty much involved, the whole top floor,” said Jim Tweedhope deputy fire chief with the Sidney Fire Department. “There were even some portions of the roof starting to collapse when we got there.”
They also utilized the first mutual aid truck on scene — a North Saanich truck that attacked from the west side of the structure — and all the manpower of both mutual aid departments, Central Saanich and North Saanich fire departments.
The early hour and commercial status of the building meant it was likely unoccupied, plus the fire was burning hot and collapse was already underway, so for safety reasons, the fire department opted out of sending firefighters into the building. The building was unoccupied.
As of the Peninsula News Review’s deadline, the fire was still under investigation.