Penhold firefighters have determined the cause of a fire at the Penholder Inn to be an improperly disposed of cigarette.
Penhold Fire Chief Jim Pendergast said on Tuesday that the fire spread from a garbage can in a small office at the inn where the butt was placed, up the walls to a shelf and outward from there to the bar.
In all, there was $375,000 in damage done to the building and contents — $250,000 damage to the bar and $125,000 in damage to tables, chairs, the stock of liquor and VLTs. Pendergast said the fire was not suspicious.
The fire damage was mainly contained to the bar area, with the upstairs of the building and the liquor store next door also suffering smoke damage, but no fire or water damage.
Wendy Kroetsch, owner of the Penholder Inn for the past seven years, said on Tuesday that she hopes to open the liquor store in time for Canada Day — one of their busiest days of the year.
Her insurance company has been in and consulted with her and she hopes to open the bar as soon as possible, but doesn’t yet have a firm date to do so. Many community members and regulars have dropped by to see how she is doing with the cleanup.
Firefighters received a call at 11:20 a.m. on Sunday that the building was on fire, after Innisfail RCMP stopped by to check an intrusion alarm that the fire had set off.
No one was in the building at the time of the fire and no one was injured as a result of it.
“(The firefighters) did an awesome job,” Kroetsch said. She said there were quite a few items burned in the bar, but the building remains structurally sound.
The hotel dates back to before the Second World War. Pendergast said he believes it was built in the 1930s, when there weren’t building codes like there are today.
“There have been many hotels in cities and towns that have caught on fire and there are very few standing,” Pendergast said. “So it was a great job by the fire crews.”
Firefighters worked until 4 a.m. Monday morning getting the hot spots and cleaning up.
sobrien@www.reddeeradvocate.com