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Wednesday, August 20, 2008, 08:00
Up to 25 firefighters from Temple and Bedminster stations tackled the blaze at the Greenhouse on Park Street, smashing windows to let heat out and vent the four-storey building.
No one was injured in the fire but much of the building, including the kitchen, cellar, and offices and flats above the pub were badly damaged by smoke.
The cause of the blaze is currently under investigation, but it is thought to have started near a fire exit and taken hold in the pub's wall and floor cavities.
The fire started at about 3.30pm.
Park Street was cordoned off and closed to traffic for three hours while fire officers brought the situation under control
Nick Woodhouse, the Greenhouse's manager, was washing up in the kitchen at the back of the basement when he first noticed the smoke.
He said: "I could smell smoke downstairs in the kitchen and the cellar. Before we have had smouldering cigarettes dropping through the cellar hatch from outside, but this time it wasn't that.
"As soon as I smelled the smoke I went around the cellar to find the fire, but it wasn't there. The fire alarms went off, and when I went upstairs I saw that the corridors were full of smoke.
"It was obvious it was bigger than I first thought, and I knew it was time for us to get out."
Upstairs, deputy manager Sarah Coates was in her flat on the top floor of the building when the fire broke out.
She said: "I went on my break at 3pm and went up to my flat, and I could smell smoke up there and burning plastic.
"I ran downstairs with my flatmate Doone.
"When we opened the door the corridor outside the toilets on the pub's upper floor was full of smoke. We ran down to the pub and started getting all the customers out."
While bar staff evacuated the dozen or so punters, Mr Woodhouse raced back upstairs to save his two kittens, Annie and Bella, from his flat on the third floor.
The 32-year-old said: "I am relieved I managed to get my cats out as they are only 15 weeks old.
"Once I had them I went outside and watched my flat burn down."
Mr Woodhouse said he thought the fire could have started from a discarded cigarette butt.
He said: "I believe there were lots of people standing there having a cigarette out of the wind.
"When the fire officers asked me to open the fire escape we could see that the bottom of the door was charred and on fire."
James Bladon, a spokesman for Avon Fire and Rescue, said:"Fire fighters had to rip plasterboard away from the walls to get into the cavities to find any hot spots that might start the fire again.
"We are not yet sure what caused the fire."
The Greenhouse is owned by Tattershall Castle Group, which manages more than 150 pubs and bar restaurants across the UK.
Bristol area manager Chris Teague said: "The pub is certainly going to be closed for the near future, and we will have to get our assessors in to establish the extent of the damage.
"It is not going to be open again next week, but we are just pleased that everyone inside got out safely."
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