The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Man left burned after pub ‘explosion’
Incident: Investigation initiated after manager left ‘completely on fire’
A man was taken to hospital with burns last night after an “explosion” at a pub in the Highland capital.
Witnesses described seeing a member of staff at traditional music venue Hootananny “completely on fire” and rolling on the floor during the incident.
A man was taken to hospital with burns last night after an “explosion” at a pub in the Highland capital.
Witnesses described seeing amemberof staff at traditional music venue Hootananny “completely on fire” and rolling on the floor during the incident.
It is understood the man – named by colleagues as bar manager Stuart Skinner – was topping up the fire, which heats the Church Street bar, with fuel when the blast happened.
Emergency services cordoned off part of the city centre for more than 90 minutes while an investigation was launched into the cause of the incident.
The building was immediately evacuated and it is understood no one else was injured. A fire se rvice spokeswoman said half of the ground floor bar area had suffered smoke damage.
Shocked staff sought shelter nearby after their injured colleague was taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
They had been preparing for a change of shift when the incident unfolded just before 5.30pm.
Duty manager Ruairidh Duncan said he had “no idea” what had caused the incident.
He said other staff had been in the bar area when they heard “a loud bang and then a kind of snapping noise”.
Mr Duncan said: “Stuart was completely on fire. He had thrown himself on the ground trying to put it out.
“Weare all still shocked. It could have been 10 seconds or a minute, I’ve no idea how long it went on for.”
Other staff managed to put out the fire before calling an ambulance. It was not clear last night how serious Mr Skinner’s injuries were.
The bar was closed for the night following the incident.
Hootananny owner Kit Fraser was not at the venue at the time and was last night working with emergency services to establish what happened. He reported that there was “some sort of explosion”.
Apolice spokesman said: “We were made aware of the incident at 5.21pm. I can confirm that one person was injured as a result. Part of the street was closed during the incident.”
He added that a full investigation would be carried out, but said initial signs showed that “some form of explosion in the boiler” was the cause.
A spokeswoman for the fire service said that three units from Inverness were called to the incident.
She said crews had used breathing apparatus, dry powder and thermal imaging equipment.
A spokeswoman for the ambulance service confirmed that an injured man was taken to Raigmore.
The bar, which sits at the junction of Fraser Street and Church Street, also acts as a restaurant and livemusic venue and is one of the busiest in Inverness. The top floor area of the threestorey building is currently under going a major revamp to transform in into a cocktail bar. A decorating team were working on the top floor but were evacuated.