The Grove Bar proprietor, Noel Warby, has spoken of a “surreal funeral atmosphere” following a blaze which gutted a number of businesses in Baylough on the west side of Athlone on Friday night.
Three units of the fire service - from Athlone, Ferbane and Mullingar - attended the scene of the fire at approximately 9pm and remained on the scene to control the intensive flames until 7am on Saturday morning.
Three businesses, an off licence, fast food restaurant and bookmaker were destroyed by the fire with The Grove Bar suffering extensive damage to the premises.
Speaking to the Athlone Advertiser this week, Mr Warby, noted his state of shock as he recalled the fire incident.
“I can only compare the feeling to that of a funeral wake at the moment. I wasn’t working on Friday night but I was alerted to the fire at approximately 8.45pm. There were close to 40 customers in The Grove at the time and thankfully, they were all evacuated in a safe manner,” Mr Warby commented.
Employing seven staff members, Mr Warby has held the licence for The Grove since 2005, having worked on site from his teenage years.
“Sadly, the lounge is now gutted with smoke damage to the bar and we are trying to salvage what we can at this time. At this particular moment in time it is difficult to think of the future but hopefully, in due course, we will be in a position to welcome customers back to The Grove,” Mr Warby commented.
Athlone Deputy Mayor, Cllr Aengus O’Rourke, said it was a sad and emotional time for the local community in Baylough.
Cllr O’Rourke described the blaze as being “like a movie set” due to the intense nature and extent of the fire.
“The blaze engulfed all four buildings, they are all connected with the same roof structure so once that caught fire it was an inferno.
“This is a local commercial centre that would have served this community and neighbourhood for the last 60 years, sustaining families through those years, so it’s heartbreaking to see today that these businesses are now gone in a puff of smoke. It’s very sad.
“Thankfully nobody was killed or injured in this incident but at the same time, there’s been a lot of sadness connected with the incident,” Cllr O’Rourke concluded.
