Up front: Change of heart unlikely on Chemainus library page 5 On stage: Cowichan Cowichan athl athletes etes lleap eap to great hei heights ghts at the Garri Garriock ock page 26 For all the news of the Cowichan region as it happens, plus stories from around British Columbia, go to our website www.cowichannewsleader.com Your news leader since 1905
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Fire-ravaged Dino’s vows to reopen Up in smoke: Officials still trying to determine cause of restaurant blaze in historic building Peter W. Rusland
News Leader Pictorial
D
ino’s Grill’s co-owner vows to reopen his ¿re-damaged eatery as soon as possible. “We hope to rebuild and reopen in six months to a year,” Dean Soler said Monday after Sunday night’s blaze destroyed his downtown Duncan eatery at the Government and Jubilee street corner. “We just need to pick up the pieces and start over. My biggest fear is how and where it started.” That’s also the concern of cops and ¿re marshals probing the ¿re’s cause. “The ¿re is being investigated as suspicious at this time, and it is not yet determined whether this is an arson,” Cpl. Kevin Day of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP says in Monday’s press release. Soler was somewhat surprised to hear news of that statement from the News Leader Pictorial. “They said it was something internal,” he said of his talks to investigators about the 10 p.m. ¿re in the bistro he opened two years ago with partner, Jaclyn Soler.
Walk-in clinic closing Cowichan’s first walk-in clinic is closing by July’s end due to doctor shortage, says founder Dr. Stephen Faulkner. Shutting of the downtown Duncan Silverfern clinic, opened in October 2004, could leave its 70-some daily patients seeking care elsewhere, he explained. “I can’t get doctors,” Faulkner told the News Leader Pictorial Tuesday. “People will have no idea what to do. It’ll be more than tough.” Dr. Len Roy, a Duncan practitioner and Cowichan District Hospital’s top doc, agreed.
For the full story, see cowichannewsleader.com
Andrew Leong, Peter W. Rusland
Du Duncan ÄreÄghter Wes Elvin battles the blaze at Dino’s Grill Sunday night; Investigators check the Äre scene at Dino’s Di Grill Monday morning in downtown Duncan.
Dean Soler believed the blaze began in Dino’s prep area, not the kitchen. “The kitchen looked to be intact to my cook,” he said. “The cause is possibly electrical. “It’s an old building — what can you say?” he aasked of the 1938 landmark building owned and iinsured by Cowichan Estates. The ¿rm’s policy complements insurance carrried by the Solers, he said. No matter how the blaze started, Soler’s evenning ended in horror, watching the smokey ¿re iin his 58-seat eatery. “It was surreal. “We came down before the ¿re department bbecause the alarm company called me,” he said, nnoting door alarms hadn’t sounded in the 6 1/2 hhours since Dino’s closed Sunday. “I couldn’t believe how fully engulfed the bbuilding was.” Police investigators and agents with the Of¿ce oof the Fire Commissioner were still on scene behhind yellow safety tape at around noon Monday.
About two-dozen Duncan volunteer ¿reA ¿gghters were on scene shortly after 10 p.m. to battle the blaze that destroyed Dino’s dining ba room. There were no injuries, and no one was inside Dino’s when the ¿re started, Day said. Dino’s interior was a tangle of blackened furniture, chunks of insulation, and venting, mixed with window glass after ¿re¿ghters pushed panes inside the restaurant as a safety measure. Water service was returned to adjacent shops on Jubilee Street, Monday morning after being shut off Sunday night, police said. Mounties also blocked roads and re-routed traf¿c around the ¿re at the corner of Government and Jubilee streets. Dino’s windows were boarded Monday, while investigators probed the ¿re’s source in the eatery serviced by natural gas. The blaze caught the eye of many locals, including Marianna Schwab. “I heard cracking and thought someone was drinking and smashing bottles,” she told the News Leader Pictorial.
Need a new vehicle... But have Bad Credit?
Get the vehicle you deserve!
250-597-0424 7329 Trans Canada Hwy. Duncan
Save Time Get Pre-Approved Online www.galaxymotors.net
“It took the ¿remen just 10 minutes to arrive.” Longevity John Falkner noted he could see the inferno’s glow several blocks away at the rear of his Duncan Garage Showroom. RCMP Const. Marcus Lueder of North Cowichan/Duncan’s detachment dismissed reports of a marijuana-growing operation above Dino’s. “Cross that one off the list.” Damage to adjoining shops is still be analyzed by investigators. That damage could have been worse had Dino’s not installed a kitchen ¿re wall, on the suggestion of Duncan’s building inspector, Soler explained. “It never did spread.” Meanwhile, he hoped his six staffers ride out the down time, while customers remain loyal. “We were just getting going, that’s the heartbreaking thing,” said Soler, visualizing a new cafeteria-style lunch menu in the rebuilt bistro. “It’s like starting over, but at least people know who we are.” Fire witnesses can call the North Cowichan/ Duncan RCMP at 250-748-5522.