It could not have been a worse start to 2017 for Pete Michelle.
The owner of the Lake Waihola Cafe and Bar had just gone to bed after a long night of New Year’s Eve entertaining when the phone rang.
The pub was on fire.
One of the locals had seen flames licking the roof of the Greenwich St building and called emergency services.
However, the damage was much less serious than that caused by a fire seven years ago when the premises was gutted.
"There was a wee fire in the roof above the laundry," Mr Michelle said of yesterday’s incident.
"It’s not too bad."
But the timing was lousy.
Apart from giving Mr Michelle the early wake-up call, a week’s closure was "not ideal at all", especially as summer-holiday business was increasing.
Volunteer fire crews from Waihola, Milton, Outram and Mosgiel responded to the callout at 5.10am yesterday.
Fire Service southern communications shift manager Brent Dunn said firefighters from Waihola and Milton had sought back-up from the two other crews.
Roofing iron had been removed from the tavern to gain access to the small fire in the ceiling, he said.
Some firefighters remained at the scene for more than three hours to ensure the fire was fully extinguished.
A fire safety officer had been called in to investigate the cause of the fire, which was not suspicious, Mr Dunn said.
It was probably due to an electrical issue, the business owner believed.
Mr Michelle said the headache caused by the fire was in contrast to the New Year’s Eve festivities at the bar, which went off without a hitch.
"We had a band and a good few people," he said.
Though the building was insured, Mr Michelle — who also owns the Lake Waihola Holiday Park — said it would be huge inconvenience to have the place repaired, especially finding a builder at this time of year.
He estimated the place would be shut for about a week.
- Rob Kidd and John Gibb
