Fire tears through popular local café

Local business Fergie’s Café, a popular eatery in Squamish was the subject of a large fire on Tuesday morning.

Between 35-40 firefighters attended the incident which they were called to at approximately 4:45 a.m. on Squamish Valley Road. Fire Chief Bill Stoner says they had a very good response; “we pulled all the resources we had and put them on that fire”. The building’s kitchen sustained a significant amount of damage. However a portion of the café, a new dining area was saved from the flames, although it’s likely to have some smoke and water damage. Stoner says an investigation into the cause will be taking place, and that no one was injured in the incident

Owner of Fergie’s Café and Sunwolf Jess Freese was woken by her husband who himself was awoken by the sound of sirens. A customer at the Sunwolf’s campsite had called the Fire Department as soon as they saw flames. Freese says they have had a lot of supportive messages and offers of help; “We’re just really grateful to the community that we’re part of and we will be up and running as soon as we can be”.

“Squamish Fire Rescue did an incredible job” says Freese. “They were here really fast, huge numbers of them. Even people I happened to know, [who] weren’t even on call showed up…”. The business’ insurance has been contacted and will be sending a team to review the damage.

Approximately 25 staff will be impacted by the fire, although it is still unknown if any job losses will occur. Freese says they will make a decision quickly as they “don’t want to mess people around”. It is yet to be determined if the business will be fully operational for the summer. The facility’s campground has also been affected as there is currently no power or water to the sites, although it is due to return by Wednesday.

“In some way we will prevail… we’ve got a bit of a fighting spirit here at Sunwolf and Fergie’s. We have made commitments particularly to people who are getting married here and we will not break those commitments. So we will find a way.” says Freese. The cafe’s owner says she is very proud to be from Squamish; “the response from the community is just so amazing… thank you to everybody… it has been a very heartwarming experience whilst also a little devastating”.

Whistler resident Jamie Williams was on his way home from Tofino when he saw the fire department heading to a call and decided to follow them. He was able to film a substantial amount of footage showing the business engulfed in flames:

https://www.facebook.com/surgewilliams/videos/1874806405872123/?hc_ref=ARRjy_gio8KXo3P0fp0pIQ0Kx3NDrOTr8lg3zsFtdurAFPMGVycUQD3TtzZQeymD2c4