Melbourne fire guts Cherry Bar in Flinders Lane

[j flex roo]

MELBOURNE rock venue the Cherry Bar was destroyed by a massive CBD fire last night that resulted in the evacuation of 700 people.
The Flinders Lane building also houses British chef Jamie Oliver's Melbourne offices.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from other buildings and restaurants after fire broke out in the three-storey building on the corner of ACDC Lane just after 8.30pm last night.

The nearby high-rise at 101 Collins St was evacuated after its smoke alarms were set off.

There were no reports of any injuries.

An MFB spokeswoman said fire crews left the scene about 7.50am this morning.

Fire investigators are still at the site, trying to determine what started the blaze.

The Cherry Bar is believed to have shut two weeks ago.

The fire caused the first floor flooring slab to crash through to the ground.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade Commander Lou Mele said it was one of the biggest fires crew had attended in the CBD for a while.
"The fire was very intense and very aggressive," Commander Mele said.
It took 15 MFB units of more than 50 firefighters over 45 minutes to bring the blaze under control.
Popular eatery Cafe Kinetic on the ground floor was also destroyed.
Owner Sam Mihailibis sat in the gutter crying as he looked at what was left of his new business. "It is heart-wrenching," he said. "We will just have to start again."
Fire crews were last night trying to determine the cause of the fire, which caused an estimated $600,000 damage.

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Devestating! One of my all time favorite hang-outs!

Anyone else frequent this now former iconic rock n roll bar?

Almost like a death in the family.

[blackshadow]

I love Cherry - the good news is I just heard James Young (one of the owners) on the radio talking about it and hoping they will be able to reopen next weekend.

It would be a tragedy to lose Cherry.

I'd take the line about Cherry closing two weeks ago with a grain of salt. James has been one of the leaders rallying against the 2am lockout and I believe that Cherry was one of the bars that got an exemption to the lockout. Rightly so too as I have never seen any trouble at Cherry.

[blackshadow]

From www.theage.com.au (http://www.theage.com.au)

Remember the Hun is really fuelling the fires about the 2am lockout stuff.

Cherry bar to reopen after blaze

Tom Arup
June 6, 2008 - 11:28AM
Iconic Melbourne bar Cherry could reopen as early as next week after it was water damaged during a fire that gutted a neighbouring building in Flinders Lane last night.
Bar staff were evacuated at 7.30pm when the fire started. There were no patrons inside at the time.
The fire ripped through the offices of Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant and a Melbourne business, CBD Group in Flinders Lane, near the corner of AC/DC Lane. The restaurant itself is several blocks away in Collins Street.

Surrounding restaurants and bars, including The Italian and Rosati, were evacuated when the fire broke out. Smoke filled The Italian during the blaze.
Cherry manager James Young said he was allowed into the AC/DC Lane building soon after 9pm last night after the blaze was extinguished.
"I might be optimistic but once we dry out the carpet and clean up the place, we could be open as early as next week, providing dirty rock 'n' roll to the people of Melbourne."
Mr Young said staff are hoping a concert planned for Saturday will be able to go ahead in the laneway.
"An all-ages Living End gig for a new DVD may still go ahead in AC/DC Lane as Cherry was only being used as the band's green room," Mr Young said.
CBD employee Anthony Jordan told reporters he didn't know exactly how the fire started but fire officers had told him they suspected an electrical fault could be to blame.
Fire investigators are at the scene but would not comment about the cause of the fire.
Cafe Kinetic on Flinders Lane was seriously damaged in the fire.
Cafe owner Sam Mihailibis said he did not know how much it would cost to reopen his business.
"I'm mainly concerned about my employees. I hope they can find another job quickly," he said.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade commander Lou Mele said the damage bill from the fire could reach $1 million.
"Pretty much the whole first floor is gutted,'' Mr Mele said.
"That's where the fire started, on the first floor.''
The blaze started on the first floor, gutting the interior of the three offices and collapsing part of the iron roof, but leaving the building otherwise structurally intact, Mr Mele said.

[35eye]

Any word if James the Hound dog Young's Bon Scott memorabilia survived intact?