Appliance thought to be cause of fire in laundry room at Town restaurant
A WASHING machine or tumble drier was thought to have been responsible for a fire which broke out in a St Peter Port restaurant in the early hours of Sunday.
An automatic alarm saw the Guernsey Fire & Rescue Service alerted to smoke in La Privata Italian restaurant at about 2.30am yesterday, but it was soon confirmed that there was a fire.
Station officer Steve Wilkes said that the fire had broken out in the restaurant’s laundry room on the lower floor which opens on to North Plantation.
A large number of islanders who had been in Town were still milling about the area, and a cordon was set up by Guernsey Police.
Four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus tackled the blaze, which Mr Wilkes said was contained in the laundry room.
After a badly damaged washing machine and tumble drier were removed, it seemed as if one of these had been responsible.
He said the room had suffered extensive smoke damage, but smoke had permeated the entire restaurant – at one point it could be seen coming out of a top floor window, which Mr Wilkes said was due to the chimney effect of smoke rising through the building.
With the fire extinguished, firefighters went through the premises opening windows to vent the remaining smoke.
They left the scene at about 4.45am.
