A wedding reception to be held at City Memorial Bowls Club on Saturday night had to be relocated, after a fire broke out at the venue in the early hours of Saturday morning.
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Warrnambool CFA senior station officer Robert Howell said four units responded to the fire, which they were called to about 4am.
He said it took 12 fire fighters about ten minutes to control the blaze, which was contained to the kitchen.
“There was an electrical fire in a fridge that burnt up the wall,” Mr Howell said. “As it was burning up the wall it burnt a plastic water pipe which helped to suppress the fire which was fortunate.
“The building was full of smoke and there were other electrical hazards that had to be dealt with and isolated.”
Officers checked the wall cavities and roof to see the fire hadn’t spread to any other areas, and ventilated smoke from the building until 6.15am, he said.
City Memorial Bowls Club general manager Julie Dosser was informed of the fire just after 4am.
Ms Dosser said she was grateful water from the burnt pipe helped to douse the fire and it didn’t spread.
“We’re just really really lucky I think,” she said.
“The bistro will be closed for a few days. We’re not sure how long it will be. We need to get an industrial cleaner in”.
“The rest of the venue (the gaming area and the bar) is open.”
Ms Dosser said she worked to find an alternative venue for the affected couple and their guests on Saturday morning.
“We did have a wedding scheduled for today which we have transferred to the Mid City,” she said.
