Nanaimo fire crews responded to a fire in a vacant restaurant Monday afternoon that is considered suspicious.
At 1:42 p.m., crews were called to the 1300-block of Stewart Avenue for a fire.
Capt. Dan Multari with Nanaimo Fire says the fire was able to be extinguished quickly, and the main damage from the fire is to the back deck, but that the fire had started to spread to the back of the building.
Multari says the cause of the fire is under investigation, but that it is suspicious.
Chris Jeffs says friends of his used to run a restaurant in the building and he used to spend time there helping out.
“Back in the 80s, this was our good family friends’ Chinese restaurant called the Ocean View Inn,” Jeffs said. “I spent many, many hours in the restaurant helping my friend cook and clean and had many family dinners.”
Jeffs says the restaurant most recently became the Iron Wok, but it has been vacant for at least four years.
Laura Brougham
