Wednesday, October 23, 2019 ~ VIEW ROYAL
~ West Shore Voice News
The aging family-owned Four Mile House Restaurant and Pub in View Royal at 199 Island Highway was the scene of a fire yesterday, Tuesday October 22.
According to firefighters, the accidental fire started in the kitchen of the 150-year-old Tudor-style building and the damage is significant. It happened during the day when personnel were in the building. Smelling smoke was the first clue, and 9-1-1 was called.
Popular with tourists and locals, the restaurant with brew pub and sports bar remains closed for the time being. The building has been owned since 1979 by Graham and Wendy Haymes.
Firefighters from four municipalities took part in extinguishing the blaze (44 in total), responding from View Royal, Langford, Colwood and Esquimalt just after 1 pm on Tuesday to reports of smoke on the second floor. Firefighters in the region operate with mutual aid agreements to assist other fire departments as required.
View Royal Fire Chief Paul Hurst said crews experienced rapidly deteriorating conditions on the second floor of the restaurant. After starting in the kitchen, the fire appears to have been sucked into the walls and floor place on the second floor exacerbated by windy conditions; firefighters couldn’t locate the fire at first and had to open up walls and floors to find it. The fire was out just after 3 pm.
Apparently everyone who had been in the restaurant when the fire was first discovered had already left the building before fire crews arrived. No injuries were reported. BC Ambulance personnel arrived to check on firefighters who were working inside the building.