Police investigate fire at Cape Breton boat club, community centre

Last updated 1 hour ago

Graham MacDonald. — Graham MacDonald, a representative of the Mira Boat Club and Seniors Community Centre in Albert Bridge, stands outside the building Friday early evening, after a fire roughly 19 hours earlier destroyed part of the building and caused smoke damage through two floors of the building. "We just redid the bar upstairs last year," said MacDonald. Photo by NICOLE SULLIVAN /CAPE BRETON POST

A non-profit boat club and seniors’ community centre along the Mira River was seriously damaged by an early morning fire on Friday.

Subscribe now to access this story and more:

Unlimited access to the website and app
Exclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcasts
Full access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on
Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists
Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists

Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.

Unlimited access to the website and app
Exclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcasts
Full access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on
Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists
Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists

Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.

Access additional stories every month
Share your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting community
Get email updates from your favourite authors

Sign In or Create an Account

The Mira Boat Club suffered damage to part of the outside wall from a fire that was started on the outside of the front of the building sometime around 1:30 a.m., said spokesperson Graham MacDonald.

While a lot of the building was saved, there is extensive smoke damage on the main and second floor, as well as the portion of the burned wall and siding need to be replaced. MacDonald worries there will also be water damage.

“It’s discouraging,” said MacDonald, the vice commander of the boat club executive. “It is very sad. We just did an upstairs bar renovation last winter.”

MacDonald went to assess the fire damage around 5 a.m., after fire fighters had cleared the scene. Walking around inside, the smoke damage was evident and there was so much water on the floor his sneakers were soaking wet.

This has led to the boat club having to close early for the season and cancel the last two events they had planned: a steak dinner and Halloween dance would would have brought in up to $5,000 for the Mira Boat Club, MacDonald estimates.

After it closes for the season, the boat club is available for rentals and has darts every Thursday night. They would also do special events for things like Valentine’s Day.

Last year, the club invested in redoing the bar on the second level. MacDonald said he expects they will have to fix the upstairs again along with the main floor and the wall, indoor and outdoor, where the fire started.

MacDonald thinks it’s going to be tens of thousands of dollars to repair the Mira Boat Club after the fire and it could take more than the winter to do it.

“It definitely won’t be open until next season,” he said during an interview on Friday. “Hopefully, it will be open by then…we made the calls to the insurance company to advise them on what happened and we’re just waiting on the fire marshal investigation and arson team investigation to turn it back to us.”

The early morning fire on Oct. 9 at the Mira Boat Club started outside and burned through a section of the outside wall near the front doors on both floors. Graham MacDonald, a spokesperson for the non-profit, said there is extensive smoke damage on the main and second floors. He also expects water damage due to how much was needed to put out the Friday fire, which soaked his feet through his sneakers when he went into the building around 5 a.m. the morning of the blaze. NICOLE SULLIVAN/CAPE BRETON POST

Sydney Fire Service Deputy Chief Chris March said the report about the fire at 595 Hills Road was received at 1:38 a.m.

Albert Bridge Volunteer Fire Department was the responding unit with support from Mira Road, Bateston and Marion Bridge volunteer fire departments, with about 30 firefighters.

March said he was also on scene as well as the regional deputy chief and tactical support unit.

“The fire appears to have started on the exterior of the building and it is under police investigation,” he said during an interview Friday around noon.

“It actually was a wonderful save. The fire department did an awesome job, but I would say the boat club will be closed for a period of time, mostly due to smoke damage on the first floor and some water damage.”

There were no injuries from the fire and March said firefighters cleared the scene around 4:30 a.m.

MacDonald said power has been cut to the building and there has been no threats made toward the boat club that he knows of.

“I have no idea who would have done this,” he said.

MacDonald said the Mira Boat Club’s video camera footage was given to police and he hopes they’ll find the people who set the fire.