Hero May Have Averted Hotel Disaster

Aunty Sue’s restaurant had a minor fire last Thursday evening (June 21), when a fire started in the kitchen after restaurant hours, leaving the restaurant with mainly smoke damage.

Jeff Mickle, who manages the Brant Hotel, however, is being deemed a hero by some for putting out the fire. Like most heroes, an act of bravery is often done when it is not the always the safest thing to do. But people do it every day, be it rescuing someone from a burning vehicle or jumping into a river to save someone from drowning. Of course, we would rather have the professionals do these rescues, but for the most part, people just immediately do what they think is needed to save a life, and in this case perhaps, saving a building.

In an OEP interview, Mickle says he was not trying to be a hero Thursday: “I received a call at home that there was smoke billowing out of the back vent of the hotel. He rushed to the hotel: “When I came in through the side door, the whole restaurant was full of smoke. I went into the kitchen, grabbed the extinguisher and put the fire out,” Mickle said.

He soon realized water was spraying from melted pipes under the stainless steel countertop, near where a garbage can was destroyed by the fire. “I went and shut the water off.”

Mickle realizes that perhaps going into the restaurant before the fire department arrived was not the best idea: “Maybe I shouldn’t have done it, but I did. I was thinking of all the people staying here,” he emphasized. The fire department did arrive in full force at the restaurant, as did RCMP and EMS. Hotel guests were evacuated for a short time.

Sue Tkachuk, owner of Aunty Sue’s, expressed relief that everyone in the hotel was safe: “Thank God no one was hurt,” she said.

Tkachuk told OEP that the cause of the fire is still undetermined. They hope to be up and running as soon as the restaurant is cleaned of what is mainly smoke damage.

Many of Aunty Sue’s customers are already missing her good daily soup, lunches and dinners, along with Sue’s delicious pies. But soon this favourite restaurant will be open again, with its loyal customers coming back for the good food and hospitable service.

OEP will keep Aunty Sue’s customers updated on the restaurant’s progress.