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Kelowna  

Central reopens after arson

While their restaurant has reopened, an intentionally set gas fire has the owners of Central Kitchen + Bar concerned.

Emergency crews rushed to the restaurant just before noon Friday, to find an intentionally set fire underneath a cut gas line, by the gas meter, at the back of the building.

The gas had ignited, shooting large flames out of the line like a “flamethrower,” according to witnesses.

Fire crews were able to shut off the gas and get the blaze under control before the building caught fire, but the gas system was heavily damaged.

Thanks to some quick work by FortisBC, and an after-hours pipe fitter, Central was able to reopen Saturday morning.

“The guys were awesome ... as far as Fortis and all the emergency crews, they worked really fast,” said Jared Lee, co-owner of Central. “They had to dig up the lines, and run new gas lines and we had to get a pipe fitter to come in after hours to work on that and just make sure the building was fully safe and wasn't compromised.”

While having to close for a Friday night was a tough pill to swallow for the owners of the small restaurant, the consequences of the fire could have been catastrophic.

“It was definitely an intentional use of the natural gas line which is the biggest concern for us because the results could have been far, far worse,” Lee said.

Since the area where the fire was set needs to be accessible to emergency crews and FortisBC, Lee said they can't simply put up a fence to prevent a similar incident in the future.

Police are actively looking for the man suspected of the arson, but while he's still on the loose, Lee said he'll remain concerned.

“Quite frankly, last night after going through all of that, there was that possibility that the individual could have come back and done it again, and that's what makes us really uneasy,” Lee said. “We've worked really, really hard to build this business and that was a very simple thing that put us at a serious disadvantage for the weekend, especially being a small business.

“That's the frustrating thing, it keeps us up at night."



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