People raiding Old Marina Restaurant after fire leaves landmark in ruins

PUSLINCH - The smell of smoke wafts through the alleyway of trailers that face the smouldered pit where the Old Marina Restaurant on Puslinch Lake used to be before a devastating fire on Saturday.

After excavators took off the roof of the building to help put out hot spots inside, all that remained on Monday was the black, ashy ruins of one of the region's landmark restaurants.

Five different fire departments were called to the scene on Saturday afternoon to put out the blaze, with firefighters coming from as far as Cambridge and Guelph. The building continued to smoulder into Sunday, with firefighters spraying water on hot spots more than 24 hours after it first started.

Just a few token walls of the interior wooden structure remained on Monday, with most of the building demolished. A contractor was on site with a small crew preparing to clear most of the remaining debris.

A cause of the fire has yet to be determined, though it is believed to have started in the basement. Fire crews will start to investigate once the structure is completely demolished, and they can safely enter the basement area.

It's the second time the community has been struck by a devastating fire in the last 17 years. In 2005, the original restaurant was totalled by a fire, only to be replaced two years later in 2007. The current structure had been in place for 15 years before Saturday's fire.

A red fence surrounded the former building on Monday, and a constant stream of cars pulled into the gravel parking lot, each filled with passengers holding cameras and phones trying to capture photos and videos of the wreckage.

A private security guard was on duty, called in by the restaurant's ownership after there were multiple reports of people attempting to steal valuables from the wreckage on Sunday.

People were driving in and trying to take stuff," said Michelle Heard, who lives in the neighbouring trailer park. It's just really sad when you have something so devastating like this and people come in and try to steal stuff."

The laneway into the park was closed for much of Saturday as fire crews worked to battle the flames - only the park's residents were initially allowed in. But after the road opened back up, the cars didn't stop coming.

It was still smouldering yesterday, and they're walking right up and trying to get signs and whatever they can get their hands on" said Nancy Gray, another park resident out for a walk on Monday.

Heard and Gray were both at their trailers on Saturday, and said they first noticed the smoke in the early afternoon.

It didn't seem like anything serious," said Heard. I actually walked back home and went inside before we noticed that it was getting worse."

Thick black smoke soon started roaring into the air, forcing the neighbouring residents to batten up the hatches and close all their doors and windows.

The smoke smelled like a burning tire pit, said Terry Kennedy, who has been living in his trailer since 2000. He was there in 2005 when the first fire took down the original restaurant - this one was bigger, he said.

We were lucky because the wind was blowing out toward the lake," he said, sitting on a swing chair with his neighbour, Brenda Walsh.

If the wind had been blowing the opposite direction, they would have had to evacuate this whole area because the smoke was just so thick and black," Walsh added. There were flames 20 feet high above the building, you could feel the heat."

Heard, watching from a safe distance, said the furnace eventually exploded in an eruption of flames, smoke and sound - that part was really quite scary," she said.

Fortunately, everyone inside the building was evacuated and there were no reported injuries.

Residents of the trailer park stood around for hours as the firefighters continued to fight the blaze into the night, watching their gathering place burn to the ground. Some played cards while others took photos and videos.

Some of the residents with homes close by packed up so they could get away from the smoke. Many others continued on through the weekend, mostly staying inside.

The trailer park is filled for the summer months with a mixture of longtime residents and newcomers, some with young families and others who are long retired. The Kennedys have three generations with properties on the grounds, and a whole whack of friends they've made through the years.

It's a wonderful community," he said. Everyone is extremely friendly; the owners have always been good to everyone. There have never been any issues."

Now, as the site continues to be cleared, and a Monday rain shower starts to wash away the smell, the residents of the community are hoping history will repeat itself, and a new restaurant will one day stand in the place of the rubble.

The restaurant was always packed, and there were always people coming in and out," said Heard. I know the last time it burned down it took two years to rebuild. So, it might not be possible for next year, but I hope something comes back."

Robert Williams is a Waterloo Region-based reporter for The Record. Reach him via email: robertwilliams@torstar.ca