I
Working Building Fire
30 E Georgia St
Harness Factory Loft / PUB & Eatery
Originally Dispatched as alarm run at 12:39 AM
Multi Story ordinary construction
Heavy Smoke Showing
13 IFD Units Dispatched
First Unit on scene EG13 at 12:42 AM
Upgraded to working at 12:42 AM
Aggressive Offensive Attack
3 Handlines - 2 Supply lines
IEMS on Scene
IMPD on Scene
Utilities Secured
Working Smoke Alarm
Fire under control in 22 minutes at 1:00 AM
Battalion Chief Dennis Musgrave - damage estimated at: $50,000
Fire ruled accidental – possible discarded cigarette
Board of Health called to scene
Pub is owned by Gordon Coker (63) – has owned for 16 years
Over 200 people were evacuated after fire broke out beneath a popular downtown bar on Georgia Street shortly before 1 am. IMPD officers Alisha Bernhardt, Josh Taylor and Corey Shaffer told firefighters they were in the area working - when they noticed what they believed - to be a fire pit type fire in front of the Pub & Eatery - bar located on the first floor of the Harness Factory Loft Building. Within seconds they realized that the fire was coming from underneath the sidewalk grate and growing rapidly - with flames reaching as high as 20 feet. The officers ran into the Pub and yelled for the occupants to evacuate. They estimate at least 100 people were inside the bar at the time the fire broke out. Firefighters arrived on scene – receiving the initial call as an alarm run but finding heavy smoke and fire showing on arrival. As fire crews established 5” supply lines and deployed handlines to effect an attack on the fire, officers Bernhardt and Taylor ran into the Harness Factory Lofts and began yelling for the occupants to evacuate. The Harness Factory Lofts have 100 units located on 7 floors. The officers estimate that 100 people were inside the apartment building. Reports of the fire coming from underneath a grate in the sidewalk led to some speculation that the fire could be electrical in nature and command asked that IPL be dispatched to the scene. However once crews located the fire inside a kitchen void space, they ruled out electrical and released IPL crews from the scene. The void space sits in the rear of the kitchen for the Pub and Eatery bar. Working through thick black smoke, firefighters finally located the blaze behind some bubbling drywall. Once the space was breached they had it under control within minutes. Although the Pub will be closed until repairs can be made, no occupants were displaced from Harness Factory Lofts.
