Fire tears through Ol’ Beautiful taproom in Inglewood

A fire destroyed one of Calgary’s favourite watering holes early Sunday morning.

A fire destroyed one of Calgary’s favourite watering holes early Sunday morning.

At around 2:30 a.m., Calgary fire crews were called for reports of a fire at Ol’Beautiful, on the 1100 block of 12 Street S.E.

Arriving crews discovered smoke and flames visible from the outside of the building. When crews were able to access the interior of the building, they discovered the entire building burning, with flames spreading to the roof.

Crews set up to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to adjacent buildings.

It took two and a half hours to bring the fire under control. However, Sunday morning just before 11 a.m., it appeared that smoke was coming from the site and that it may have re-ignited.

Neighbour Emaly Gallant was awakened at 2:30 a.m. to the sounds of loud explosions, which she said she initially thought were fireworks.

"But there was too many and it was too close to the house," she said, "so I ended up looking outside the window, where I saw bright yellow flames right across the street."