Yesterday, a fire tore through the Caversham pub and now it may never return.
Hundreds of despondent patrons — present and past — expressed heartbreak at the devastation as the news and images of the early morning fire emerged.
Police said a contractor, who arrived at the tavern to clean the fryers early yesterday morning, had called 111.
He arrived, turned the fryers on, went outside to get more gear from his van, and as he returned saw smoke and flames.
The contractor turned everything off, went back outside and raised the alarm.
The man who converted the South Rd building from a grocery store into a pub more than 20 years ago yesterday said he did not know if the tavern would be rebuilt.
Mitchells Tavern manager Stephen Morris put the bar in, in 2001, before his brother Bryan took up the lease and started running the business.
"It’s just gutting, mate," he said as the fire investigation started.
"It’s just devastated.
"It’s just a dripping mess at the moment.
"The kitchen is gone, the bar’s gone, the gaming room is gone, and our function room ... everything has just been hit equally with the amount of water they had to pump into it to get the fire out."
Whether the building was salvageable would be something to discuss with the owners.
"My personal view would be no.
"There’s just so much damage and it’s not confined to one area — it’s throughout the whole place."
Still, social media was flooded with hundreds of people expressing sadness, recalling occasions spent there, extending sympathy and hoping the tavern would reopen soon.
Mitchells Tavern social club president Tony Manley dropped by to see the damage himself.
"Heartbreaking — it really is. I just can’t believe the devastation, I really can’t," Mr Manley said.
He had spent every night at the pub for the past 15 years, as had others in the social club, some of whom had been going there since it opened.
"It’s a great community hub," Mr Manley said.
"I don’t know what I’m going to do. A lot of them won’t know what to do. It’s a place to catch up and meet people.
"It’s more like a big family — we get on well with the staff and the owner Bryan, he’s a really good mate of mine. I just feel devastated for him."
Firefighters could see flames and smoke on their way to the fire and immediately put out a second alarm, and appliances from Dunedin Central and Roslyn also began rolling, he said.
Dunedin Central Fire Station Senior Station Officer Ant O’Neill said crews arrived to a well-established kitchen fire.
The first crews to arrive put on breathing apparatus and rushed inside to attack the blaze.
However, minutes after entering the building, the ceiling tiles started to fall in and the roof collapsed, forcing the firefighters out of the building and refocusing the attack from outside.
At the height of the fire there were five trucks, including an aerial appliance, involved in the effort.
It took about 30 minutes for crews to get the fire under control and "mop up", ensuring it was out, and checking for hot spots began.
The cause was as yet unknown, but there was extensive damage to the roof as well as smoke and water damage throughout the building, he said.
