Just got an email from a friend on island that there is a fire at mongoose junction. Hope everyone is ok.

Fire Mongoose

Not a whole lot of details

I'm still hearing only second hand information. I hope it is not the business I heard about. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

So sad. My thoughts are with them.

It was pretty bad, but no injuries. The Tap Room as gutted, roof over Ocean Grill is gone with very extensive water damage, North Shore Deli has very extensive water damage. Cheech and Kevin at the tap room say they are rebuilding. We were at Christmas Cove, but could not see the smoke. Facebook friends pretty much did a play by play. Additional report at:

http://newsofstjohn.com/2015/01/23/mongoose-junction-fire/

Nothing from Tradewinds yet.

Cid at Connections is compiling a list of businesses effected and donations to the St. John Revolving Fund (501c3 charity) will be accepted. I'll update as I have more.

RickG

Thanks for the update and please do report more as you here it from those on island.

We were monitoring TA and News of STJ site last night looking for updates.

I hope those businesses had insurance. We just renewed our business insurance yesterday and I thought of it as soon as I heard the news.

Here is from The Source.

The Tap Room is a major sponsor for 8 Tuff Miles. They host the post-race awards ceremony and party. The race is February 28th. I'm sure someone will come to the rescue, but it is such a shame because they do such a great job...

The Source, part 2.

Friends on island say that Ocean Grill will be open for dinner tonight. Gallows humor from a friend who was on site "If everyone on island had put a finger in a leak in the fire hose the fire would have been put out twice as quickly." Anecdotally, the crash pump for the cistern had to be fetched from a business in Coral Bay. It took more than 20 minutes for police to respond and start traffic control, which hindered the fire department.

The facts may take a while to come out, lots of lessons learned. But, fire fighting on an island like St. John is very tough with water restrictions and an underfunded volunteer fire department. We remember our donation to the Coral Bay Firehouse every year. They helped us in 2000 and have always been grateful for any help.

Cheers, RickG

Ah, "It wasn't my fault!" from the Daily News.

Yes, that sounds kind of suspicious there. Presumably they will be able to determine how the fire started..