■ Fire response
Former Clare Social Club building now housed a sushi business
Numerous fire departments responded to a fire in Little Brook last week at a building that used to house the Clare Social Club and most recently has housed a sushi business.
Numerous fire departments responded to a fire in Little Brook, Digby County, the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 27.
A fire call came in to the Little Brook Fire Department at about 8 p.m. The scene of the fire was the former Clare Social Club building that after closing has since housed Evelina’s Rapure Pie until it closed, and currently houses Kizuna Sushi.
Little Brook Fire Department Chief Michel LeBlanc said the building, located at 1008 Highway 1, was not fully engulfed when firefighters arrived but it was a stubborn fire to battle.
“It was mostly on the other side of the building when we got here,” he said, referring to the side of the building not facing Highway 1. Asked if it was a difficult fire to fight, he said it was.
“It was very hard. There’s a lot of small rooms everywhere, two or three attic (spaces), stuff like that.”
He said fortunately there was no major risk to neighbouring properties.
There was a lot of manpower and equipment on the scene Tuesday evening. Responding volunteer fire departments included Little Brook, St. Bernard, Meteghan, Havelock, Weymouth and Southville. Nova Scotia Power also had a couple of trucks on scene.
A section of Highway 1 was closed to traffic for several hours. Chief LeBlanc says his firefighters returned back to their station at about 1 a.m.
The business located inside the building, Kizuna Sushi, specializes in Japanese Fine Cuisine, according to its Facebook page. Its sushi offerings are available at local eateries and businesses in the region including Lisa T Café at the Université Sainte-Anne Campus, SIP Café in Yarmouth, Comeau’s Farm Market in Meteghan, DJs in Clare, NSCC in Yarmouth, Dan’s Ice Crea, Shoppe in Barrington Passage.
Customers have offered good re- views of the sushi on the business’s Facebook page.
On Wednesday, Feb. 28, the company posted on its Facebook page that it has had to close the restaurant, including delivery, until this spring “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
“Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause,” the business posted. “We will try our best to re-open our Kizuna Restaurant as soon as possible.”
There was significant interior damage to the property. In the days after the fire an inspector surveyed the scene and the cause had yet to be determined. The office of the fire marshal was carrying out an investigation into the cause.
Chief LeBlanc said one part of the building received smoke damage while the other side had fire, smoke and water damage. A section of roof had also collapsed.
When the building served as the Clare Social Club it hosted numerous events annually and frequently played host to musical performances.