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Fire leaves Boone Saloon singed |
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Tuesday, 15 April 2008 |
by ANNE BAKER
News Reporter
by LINDSAY DIEDRICH
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
King Street restaurant and bar Boone Saloon was evacuated late Thursday night when a fire started in the rear of the building.
Boone Fire Department arrived at the scene at 11:38 p.m. with a response time to the call of less than one minute once the department was dispatched, Boone Chief of Fire Reginald Hassler said.
“We had a total of three engines, one squad car, and a ladder truck respond,” Hassler said. “On
standby, we called Blowing Rock, Meat Camp and Foscoe volunteer fire departments.”
 Boone Fire Department firefighters watch as one member extinguishes the flames in Boone Saloon Thursday night. Photo by Anna Donlan
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However, extra assistance was not necessary and the fire was brought under control in approximately 45 minutes and completely extinguished in two and a half hours, Hassler said.
There were no reported injuries.
However, damage to Boone Saloon totaled over a quarter of a million dollars, with property damage
estimated to be $200,000 and content damage to be $125,000, Hassler said.
The band Comic Charlie was playing at the restaurant when they discovered the fire.
“We smelt something burning, like paper,” band member Michael Wegner said. “We went into our next
song, but stopped in the middle because of the smell.”
The band then acted fast to their concern.
“We announced to the crowd that something was burning,” fellow member John Miley said. “We looked
behind us and the flames were hitting the ceiling.”
 The blackened inside of Boone Saloon suffered approximately $200,000 of property damage. Photo by Patrick Sullivan
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Once the fire was discovered, Boone Saloon staff quickly evacuated patrons prior to the fire
department’s arrival.
“We want to commend the Boone Saloon managers and owners for having everyone evacuated by the
time we got [there],” Hassler said.
Those in attendance said the evacuation process went smoothly.
“Everyone was pretty calm,” Miley said. “It was pretty orderly.”
Appalachian State University alumnus Edwin K. Hively agreed and said those who were inside the
building were able to move out quickly.
Hassler said the cause of the fire was determined to be improper discarding of smoking materials.
“Smoking materials meant something in the form of a cigarette,” he said.
The fire department was on the scene until 4 a.m. to make sure the fire was completely extinguished.
 The Boone Fire Department worked for about four hours early Friday morning to put out a fire in Boone Saloon. Photo by Holt Menzies
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