Neighbourhood businesses are reeling from the effects of the Tuesday morning fire that destroyed the Tudor House Pub in Esquimalt.
Water and smoke damage forced an accounting company and a sporting goods store out of their premises on the ground floor of the three-storey building on Esquimalt Road at Comerford Street, next door to the pub.
An architecture firm, a block away from the pub on Esquimalt Road, suffered water damage to its parkade.
Top Shelf Bookkeeping, at 1253 Esquimalt Rd., had 15 centimetres of water in the building when staff were allowed in on Tuesday.
“It’s devastating,” said Brian K. Ritchie, the general manager and founder of the business.
He said the business has suffered thousands of dollars worth of damage to everything from flooring to cabinetry and is working with insurers.
Ritchie said he was told his company wouldn’t be able to move back into its Esquimalt location for about two months. “We’re now tucked into one very small office [in Saanich].”
West Coast Athletics, a retail outlet that has operated at 1253 Esquimalt Rd. since December 2011, had posted a sign saying it was closed until further notice and directed customers to its Facebook page.
The floors inside were being ripped up and a heater was being used to dry any remaining water on Wednesday afternoon.
The parkade of Praxis Architecture, at 1245 Esquimalt Rd., was flooded after water used to douse the pub fire clogged storm drains on Esquimalt Road. The elevator that serves its five-storey building was damaged and will have to be rebuilt.
For performers who played in the pub, the loss of the building is overwhelming.
“I lost everything,” said Susan L’heureux, who has hosted the karaoke nights for 10 years. She is also the owner of Vintage Funk, a thrift store on Johnson Street. “All I’ve ever wanted is to be a DJ and a singer, [working at the pub] helped me realize that dream.”
The fire destroyed all of L’heureux’s sound and recording equipment, which she estimates to be worth about $5,000. “All my books, mics and everything I owned was there. I can’t go to another [karaoke] job,” she said.
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said she hopes the lot on the corner of Esquimalt and Admirals roads doesn’t remain vacant for long.
“Anything the property owners come forward with, we’ll try to help,” she said. “It’s that statement corner for Esquimalt and there’s opportunity for development.”
She added that municipal officials would do their best to help any businesses affected by the fire.
Esquimalt fire investigators were surveying the building on Wednesday afternoon, looking for clues to the cause of the fire.
Lt. Troy Saladana, a fire investigator with the municipality, said the majority of the burning appeared to happen in the northwest corner of the building. He said his work was aided by information posted on social media by witnesses.
“In today’s age, with the amount of media and independent video sources we had before we even showed up, we have a pretty good indication of where the hot spots began,” he said.
“Two years ago, we wouldn’t have had any of this.”
Municipal historians are mourning the loss of not only an iconic building, but a place of social history.
“It was a gathering place for the people of Esquimalt throughout the years,” said Gregory Evans, Esquimalt’s municipal archivist.
“What’s sad is the loss of all the stories of Esquimalt through the years stored in the building.”
