Black Bull to reopen after fire

The fire at 298 Queen St. West last night never got to the Black Bull pub, which will thus reopen this afternoon. Although the bar's gas supply had been turned off on account of the fire, water damage was inconsequential. "The water ran down, but went down a drain in the floor. The only thing we have left to do is have the gas turned back on and we will be open this afternoon," Rob Taylor, the Black Bull's manager, told CTV News.

That's pretty remarkable, really. At around 10 p.m. last night, most feared that the fire would spread from the upstairs apartments to the bar below. So, kudos to the Fire Department on some good work.

The fate of the units in the upstairs rooming house where the fire damage was far worse is not yet clear. Some reports have certain areas as habitable, but we've yet to be able to confirm this. The precise cause of the fire has also yet to be determined. Toronto Fire Capt. Mike Strapko did, however, indicate that the building is structurally sound and that the flames witnessed last night were primarily from the contents of an apartment rather than the building itself. That may prove to be good news, but it's still soon to tell for sure.

Photo by Emergency Pictures in the blogTO Flickr pool.