JACOB JONES | THE DAILY WORLD
Ocean Shores fire officials inspect a burnt out section of the Galway Bay Irish Restaurant & Pub building in Ocean Shores on Monday. While windows were broken in the main pub area, the fire did not spread into the restaurant. No injuries were reported.
JACOB JONES | THE DAILY WORLD
Ocean Shores firefighters walk through the charred remnants of a vacant section of the Galway Bay Irish Restaurant and Pub building, which caught fire Monday morning. No injuries were reported and fire crews prevented the fire from spreading into the restaurant.
Neon signs for whiskey and Guinness still hung in the shattered windows of the Galway Bay Irish Restaurant & Pub on Monday after flames gutted a vacant section of the building, destroying an ongoing renovation project without damaging much of the existing restaurant area.
Yellow caution tape blocked off the structure as Ocean Shores fire crews sifted through the charred framework, extinguishing flare-ups and searching the debris for clues. Capt. Brian Ritter with the Ocean Shores Fire Department said crews responded at 5:22 a.m. Monday to find flames tearing through much of the building.
No one was in the building at the time and no injuries were reported. A cat named Guinness, who lived in the store, was found safe.
Ritter said crews managed to keep the fire contained to the vacant section while protecting the restaurant and store at the south end of the building. While the empty section was gutted, the existing pub area sustained relatively minor smoke and water damage. No cause has yet been determined.
Owner Bill Gibbons surveyed the damage Monday, thanking the Ocean Shores fire crews for stopping the blaze before it destroyed the main pub area. He expected to be able to re-open within a week, saying that despite the heavy damage they had been pretty lucky.
“The whole restaurant area is pretty well unscathed,” Gibbons said. “We lucked out. The fire pretty much stayed on the other side of the (north) wall.”
The north wall of the pub, along the stage and stone fireplace, was previously scheduled to come out this week as part of an expansion into the rest of the building. Fire crews used the wall as a barrier to stop the fire after it quickly spread through the empty part of the building.
Gibbons joked that one firefighter had his priorities straight, reportedly telling him, “We saved your whiskey.”
While some furniture and memorabilia in the restaurant was destroyed, Gibbons said much of the restaurant just needs a good cleaning. He said the restaurant could be up again by the weekend or next week.
“We’re in the cleaning crew process,” he said.
The vacant middle section of the building, which previously contained a hair salon and other businesses, was undergoing a renovation to convert the space to expand the pub and store. Hardwood floors had just gone in and several ceiling beams and other fixtures had been installed recently.
Ritter said the middle section may be a total loss, but no estimate on the damage was immediately available. Fire investigators planned to continue analyzing the scene today in search of the source of the fire.
“The guys are still looking for a cause,” Ritter said, adding, “They got a lot of stuff pulled out and cleaned up.”
Smoke detectors still rang out in the background Monday as Gibbons first inspected the damage. He said the Hoquiam Fire Department notified him at his home early Monday and he rushed to the scene.
Gibbons said the renovation project would likely be set back several weeks, but he was grateful for the response from fire crews and the community at large.
He thanked the Harbor for its support as he starts to clean up, saying he has received countless calls from friends, neighbors and local leaders offering whatever help they can give.
“The phone’s ringing off the hook,” he said. “It’s been just phenomenal.”
