Grant
Administrator
Mdina restaurant gutted by fire
Mark Micallef
CPD members fighting the fire at Bacchus restaurant in Mdina yesterday. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli
Bacchus restaurant, set in a historic building in the heart of Mdina, was gutted by a blaze that broke out early yesterday afternoon.
Half of the ceiling at the restaurant's rear area collapsed as a result of the fire.
The Civil Protection Department received a call for help at about 2 p.m. but the damage was already extensive by the time they arrived as the fire had spread quickly.
The restaurant was open when the fire broke out and there were some 35 patrons being served. But everyone made it out safely, including the staff, shortly after the blaze started spreading.
Two of the workers who were trapped by the fire at the back of the building, where the fire is thought to have started, made their way out by climbing over to an adjacent building.
The CPD arrived in full force with about 15 men. "It took us about one and a half hours to put out the fire. Nobody got hurt but a few of our men had to be treated by the medics on site after the sweltering heat made them sick," CPD chief Peter Cordina said.
The cloistered nuns nearby provided their chapel as a makeshift clinic.
Passers-by and tourists carrying football flags took time off from the World Cup schedule to follow the fire-fighting operation, which turned out to be quite a scene, especially since at first the fire fighters were doing their best to deviate the fire from gas cylinders used by the restaurant.
"We evacuated people from the neighbouring buildings because of the gas cylinders. However, we managed to control the fire before it got to them," Mr Cordina said.
It is still not clear what caused the blaze. The staff told the CPD that the soffit in the kitchen had caught fire. "But that is something for the investigations to establish," the CPD chief said.
The police are investigating.
Duty Magistrate Joe Cassar is heading an inquiry.
Mark Micallef
CPD members fighting the fire at Bacchus restaurant in Mdina yesterday. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli
Bacchus restaurant, set in a historic building in the heart of Mdina, was gutted by a blaze that broke out early yesterday afternoon.
Half of the ceiling at the restaurant's rear area collapsed as a result of the fire.
The Civil Protection Department received a call for help at about 2 p.m. but the damage was already extensive by the time they arrived as the fire had spread quickly.
The restaurant was open when the fire broke out and there were some 35 patrons being served. But everyone made it out safely, including the staff, shortly after the blaze started spreading.
Two of the workers who were trapped by the fire at the back of the building, where the fire is thought to have started, made their way out by climbing over to an adjacent building.
The CPD arrived in full force with about 15 men. "It took us about one and a half hours to put out the fire. Nobody got hurt but a few of our men had to be treated by the medics on site after the sweltering heat made them sick," CPD chief Peter Cordina said.
The cloistered nuns nearby provided their chapel as a makeshift clinic.
Passers-by and tourists carrying football flags took time off from the World Cup schedule to follow the fire-fighting operation, which turned out to be quite a scene, especially since at first the fire fighters were doing their best to deviate the fire from gas cylinders used by the restaurant.
"We evacuated people from the neighbouring buildings because of the gas cylinders. However, we managed to control the fire before it got to them," Mr Cordina said.
It is still not clear what caused the blaze. The staff told the CPD that the soffit in the kitchen had caught fire. "But that is something for the investigations to establish," the CPD chief said.
The police are investigating.
Duty Magistrate Joe Cassar is heading an inquiry.