Fire marshal says blaze at Beermuda likely caused by overloaded power strip

Firefighters from at least six Alle-­Kiski Valley towns quickly extinguished a fire Thursday morning at The Beermuda bar and restaurant in New Kensington that is believed to have been sparked by an overload power strip.

A state police fire marshal on Friday said the incident is still under investigation but it appears to have been accidental.

Fire Marshal Keith Sobecki said the fire likely was caused when a pair of dehumidifiers were plugged into a power strip and overloaded.

The fire, which erupted in the basement utility room, was reported just after 9:30 a.m. at 2150 Freeport Road.

It took firefighters about a half-hour to knock down the flames, said Capt. Dave Metz of New Kensington Fire Department Company No. 2.

“Damage from smoke and water damage was contained to the basement area,” Metz said.

No injuries were reported.

The basement has a small bar and an area that is used for storage, officials said.

Firefighters used an aerial ladder truck to hover over the 2½-story frame and stone-faced building to make sure the fire did not spread through the wall from the basement, said Joe Weinel, a lieutenant at the No. 2 station.

Crews from Arnold, Tarentum, Freeport, New Kensington and Lower and Upper Burrell were among the responders on the scene.

By noon, all roads near the fire scene were open to traffic.

Fire officials said the business can’t reopen until the electrical system is checked and repaired along with clearing debris and cleaning the interior, which likely will take several days.

Tara Salem, who handles social media for the restaurant, said the fire will cause Beermuda to bow out of this weekend’s Boos & Brews Bar Crawl.

She said they initially considered setting up outdoors but were unable to rent a tent for patrons.

“Even if we could get a tent, we don’t have any electricity, so it would have been difficult to do the event outside,” she said. “We decided that under the circumstances, it would be best for us not to participate.”

She said the building has an older electrical system that the fire damaged.

“Until we know how long it will take to do the electrical repairs, we can’t say how long it will be before we can open up again,” she said, noting the restaurant has been “pretty busy lately.”

“The entire place needs to be cleaned because of the smoke,” she said. “And, hopefully, it won’t take too long to fix the electric. We want to open as soon as we can.”

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct the name of Beermuda’s social media manager, Tara Salem.