http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16101836&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=566835&rfi=6Fire at Bar; nightspot shut for at least a week
William Kaempffer and Robert Varley, Register Staff
02/10/2006
Firefighters battle blaze on roof of Bar in downtown New Haven Thursday night. Chris Volpe/Register
NEW HAVEN — Jeff Browning was worried about his beer, all 166 hand-crafted kegs of it.
A two-alarm fire closed down Bar brew pub and restaurant Thursday and the most optimistic estimate has the popular 254 Crown St. nightspot closed for at least a week for repairs. It could be longer.
"We’re going to have a new beer. It’s going to be called Smoke House Ale," said Browning, the brew master at Bar for the last seven years, in a moment of sad, dark humor.
The fire, which apparently started in the roof area, caused mostly cosmetic damage. In an effort to cut off the flames, firefighters cut holes in the roof.
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"The best case could be a week," said Stuart Press, one of the owners, in a statement that seemed more like a question. "It looks like for the most part the building held up rather nicely."
Fire Chief Michael Grant said about 50 firefighters battled the blaze. "It was a very labor-intensive job," Grant said. "The firefighters did a great job. They worked very hard."
Fire Capt. John Coles said the blaze appeared to have started in an area of the roof and roofers had been working there Thursday. Investigators were talking with them Thursday evening to see if they accidentally touched off the blaze.
Health inspectors would be summoned to the scene, authorities said. Often, restaurants must throw away food and opened liquor bottles after a fire.
That left Browning wondering what it meant for his beer.
He had 55 barrels in storage and 28 in serving tanks. Each barrel would serve about 400 glasses of beer. The beer was being stored in stainless steel tanks so he was optimistic they could be saved.
"It shouldn’t be a total loss. The system is sealed," he said. They were planning the 10th anniversary party for the brew house for Feb. 22.
About 70 people work at Bar, employees said, and Thursday is one of their busiest nights, often attracting 1,000 customers.
"I’m a senior at Quinnipiac (University)," said Bianca Maresca, a waitress for two years, moments after arriving from East Haven. "This is my only job. This is my bread and butter."
Kitchen manager Patrick Bohan said he and some other employees were in the kitchen when they smelled a strange odor. When they walked into the front bar, they saw the smoke and discovered the fire when they entered the bathroom.
"I was running around trying to tell the other business managers to get out," he said.
The venue often showcases music acts in the back room. Cashier Phil Lique was relieved to hear that the costly light and sound system appeared to have escaped serious damage.
"We’ve got some expensive situations to repair basically."
With firefighters blocking Crown Street from vehicle and pedestrian traffic, some businesses found themselves blocked off to many rush-hour patrons.
At Louis’ Lunch across the street from Bar, owner Jeff Lassen admitted they were temporarily in "limbo," but was more concerned about the effects of the bar being closed.
"It’s definitely going to have an impact," he said, noting the strong relationship between both businesses.
©New Haven Register 2006
