Wigan bar remains closed after large fire last week

In the early hours of Thursday morning last week, crews were called to reports of a “three-storey” blaze at Casino de Cuba in the town centre.

Crews tackled the flames, which broke out in the outdoor courtyard of the Millgate nightspot just before 2am.

Watch manager Glyn McGann, said that the blaze was so fierce, the firefighters had to douse the flames before they could even gain entry to the property.

"We managed to push them back enough to gain entry to the courtyard and extinguish them. “The fire had spread to the building and there were broken windows and superficial damage.

"The heat was very intense. The nature of the materials burning meant that there was a lot of heat coming from it.

It took them around three and a half hours to get the fire under control and make the area safe for the owners to get in.

Superficial damage was done to the bar area, with some of the windows smashing from the intense heat.

The club initially closed on Friday, with owners posting to social media saying that it would not be operating that day.

However, by Friday afternoon, bosses had taken the decision to remain closed over the weekend, telling customers that they would be opening again “very soon”.

On Monday, the business posted again to say that it would be closed for the day and that more information would be "coming soon".

There has been no public message since and attempts to contact the bar's manager have failed.

Firefighters believe that the blaze was either caused by an outdoor barbecue or from an electrical fault.

Watch manager McGann is urging people to “be vigilant” when having barbecues near any outdoor wooden furniture as there is the potential for briquettes to ignite the flammable material.

“"People have to be really mindful when operating BBQs near or on wooden structures such as decking," he said.

"It only takes an electrical fault or a briquette to fall on the wood, which is usually covered in resin and other flammable materials."