UPDATE: Crews battle massive fire at The Corner Bar in Rockford
ROCKFORD, Mich. — Rockford Fire Chief Dave Jones said a gas main explosion caused the fire at The Corner Bar to spread throughout the building early this morning.
Firefighters first received a call about 5 a.m., and found a trash bin fire at the bar, which has been in business for 70 years. That fire was mostly extinguished when it suddenly spread to a gas line. Firefighters were inside the building, but quickly evacuated. That's when the gas main exploded, about 6:30 a.m., Jones said.
Four other area departments were called to assist. The crews used millions of gallons of water. And it took about three hours to get the gas line shut off, due to its location.
The building suffered extensive damage, and the wall is buckling on the west side, Jones said.
Owners of The Corner Bar have been on the scene since early this morning, and said they will reopen.
And down the road a bit, there is a tent where folks from the bar are serving Corner Bar hot dogs.
For continuing coverage, tune in to Newschannel 3 and visit WWMT.com.
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The fire at The Corner Bar on North Main Street this morning was fueled by gas, the city's emergency services chief said this morning during a news conference on the incident.
No one was injured, and the building was empty.
Fire crews spent more than two hours battling the flames.
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Crews battle a massive fire at The Corner Bar on North Main Street in Rockford.
Firefighters have been there working to put out the flames for close to two hours. We're told there are several departments on scene while the area remains blocked off.
Right now, we don't know the cause of this fire. Details are limited at this point, but we have a crew there working to learn more about what happened.
Stay with Newschannel 3 on-air and online throughout the day for updates on this developing story.
