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Fire razes city pub Cayley Dobie staff reporter
A South Burnaby neighbourhood pub is no more after a “suspicious” three-alarm blaze tore through the building early Saturday morning. Firefighters were called to the Marine Pub and Brewhouse at 5820 Marine Dr. around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10. By the time crews arrived, flames were shooting 60 to 80 feet into the air, according to Burnaby assistant fire chief Rick Weir. Investigators with both the Burnaby RCMP and fire department are now looking into what caused the three-alarm blaze that gutted the local pub. Marine pub owner Pal Singh told the NOW on Saturday that surveillance footage allegedly shows an unknown man walking around the pub’s patio and setting fire to two patio chairs before the alarm was tripped at 2:28 a.m. Investigators are trying to recover evidence from the pub’s surveillance system, which was damaged in the blaze. Weir wouldn’t comment on why the blaze was considered suspicious at this time, and he confirmed Singh was cooperating with investigators. This is about the fifth suspicious fire in the Fires Page 8
For more photos and a video, scan with Layar
Jennifer Gauthier/burnaby now
Aftermath: Marine Pub and Brewhouse owners Pal Singh (in black coat) and Jasmine Saini (in blue) survey the damage following a three-alarm fire that destroyed the pub early Saturday morning.
Burnaby tops restaurant closures list Jacob Zinn staff reporter
Forty-one Burnaby restaurants were shut down by Fraser Health last year for reasons ranging from poor hygiene to unsafe preparation of food to ongoing issues with pests, making Burnaby the
biggest offender in the health authority’s report. In 2014, Fraser Health reviewed the conditions of restaurants throughout 12 Lower Mainland municipalities, including Abbotsford, Coquitlam, Delta, Langley (city and township), Maple Ridge, New Westminster, Pitt Meadows,
Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and Surrey. Burnaby garnered the most shutdowns of all the cities, edging out Surrey by five establishments. The city’s worst offender was Mrs. Vanelli’s in Metrotown, racking up a dozen violations, including failure to protect food from contamination, a lack of a
written sanitation procedure and improper storage or labelling of chemicals, cleansers or similar agents. Under the direction of Fraser Health, they were permanently closed on Jan. 10, 2014. “We spend our inspections doing education with the operators, and when
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