04.22
A huge ass fire broke out in Waterloo this morning at 5:30am. If you were planning to go to Mel’s Diner, Mr. Sushi, Caesar Martini’s, Tabu, or Sugar Mountain for lunch (or ever again), think again. That student plaza between Waterloo and Laurier is completely destroyed!
Was it arson by a disgruntled student? Or a mere electrical mishap? Police are still looking for more clues. Just check out the images of the fire.
Caesar Martini’s with some fire action in the background.
Nooooooo, Mel’s Diner on fire!
Nooooooo, Mel’s Diner after fire!
And some student’s amateur video of the Waterloo Fire
Mr. Sushi was one of my favorite places to eat. And Mel’s is always good after alcohol. Can’t say I’ve ever been in Sugar Mountain though (if they build a McDonald’s to replace it, I’d be happy). And no comment on Tabu, other than they probably “accidentally” caused the fire on purpose. All the good times at the plaza will now just be a good memory.
Waterloo Record – Fire destroys businesses in Waterloo plaza
CTV – Fire rages over Waterloo student hub
oh my goshhhhh
I was just at mr. sushi two days ago, i’m so sad cause I finally found an inexpensive good place to eat!!!! now it’s gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
good bye good businesses, come back to life so that i can eat and play again1
I’m gonna be living in the apartment building right across that place in September. I was really looking forward to getting drunk at Ceasar Martini’s next year and walking across the street to pass out in my home, and then going to Mel’s the next day to cure my hangover. I finished my exams, but now I’ve found a new reason to be sad and depressed.
Yeah. Tabu did it. It’s obvious. That place was pretty shady. It’s the beginning of summer, most of the students have headed home, they just spent a crapload on renovations and claim they were failing. Insurance time! The same thing happened with the Lyric and then Metropolis in down town Kitchener a few years ago.
I was looking at that lighting grid at TABU and wouldn’t be surprised if that might have had something to do with the origin of the fire. It’s hard to say at this time. I heard they’d called in the Ontario Fire Marshall from Toronto, so that usually means that arson is suspected.
Any building constructed in that fashion (the cheapest way possible) is just a disaster waiting to happen. The businesses were a bunch of little boxes, with a common roof structure. Because of the Region of Waterloo Building code didn’t require sprinklers they weren’t installed. Whether they would have made a difference in this case, who knows?
With a common roof, such as 140 University had, once the fire got going, all the firefighters could do was pour water on it from the perimeter and the three aerial towers. There’s no hope of fighting a fire like that from inside, it would be just too dangerous.