Colo. Firefighters Battle Blaze at Occupied Inn

Dec. 20--The Greenbriar Inn, at 8735 North Foothills Highway just outside of Boulder, was evacuated Thursday night because of a structure fire.

Multiple agencies sent firefighters to help extinguish the blaze, which appeared to be burning in the walls.

Firefighter Anne Reid, of the Lefthand Fire Protection District, said flames were not visible when crews arrived on the scene, but heavy smoke was present in the building. She said firefighters climbed on the roof of the restaurant's bar area to cut a hole so the building could be ventilated.

Investigators were working to determine a cause of the fire.

Sgt. Clay Leak, of the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, said indications were that faulty wiring may have been to blame.

"The fire started in the oldest part of the building in the attic area," Leak said. "The fire was contained to the attic area and just dumped a lot of smoke in the main part of the building."

No one was injured in the fire, Leak said.

A damage estimate was not available Thursday night.

Philip Goddard, who has owned the Greenbriar for the past 18 years, also said he suspected the fire may have been related to old wiring above the bar, which was originally erected in 1873.

"We've replaced a lot of wires in the restaurant over the years, but I'm not sure I got to every one," he said. "Fortunately, the bar is mostly stone and separated from the rest of the building."

The first person to notice smoke in the building was John Pellouchoud, a former firefighter for the Boulder Mountain Fire Authority who made headlines after being stuck in a tree during September's flood.

Pellouchoud said he was in a corner of the bar eating a burger when he noticed the smoke directly above his head. He said the building filled with smoke quickly as he rushed to get what he estimated to be about 150 customers and staff members out of the building.

"It was like walking through cotton. And it was really toxic," he said of the smoke as he stood outside the building, still coughing. "I just put my arms up and started directing people out the atrium. All I had was the light on my cell phone."

Pellouchoud said that at one point he crawled out of the restaurant's main doors -- in an area where the smoke was particularly thick -- before heading back into the building to shut off the breakers.

"I wanted to make sure no one else had tried to come out that way and passed out and was lying there unconscious," he said.

Goddard said Pellouchoud and others at one point used a sledge hammer to knock down a portion of the bar in the wall so a fire extinguisher could be used to put out some flames.

Crews from Lefthand, Lyons, Boulder, Boulder Mountain and the Boulder Rural fire departments responded to the call, according to Leak, as did the Longmont Emergency Unit and paramedics from American Medical Response.

Copyright 2013 - Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.