Owner of Perth chippy says ‘traumatic’ fire could have destroyed his business

The owner of a Perth chip shop has thanked firefighters for stopping his business from going up in flames.

Several crews were called to High Street chippy Blue Lagoon on Monday morning after locals heard a “big bang” before smoke was seen pouring from the takeaway.

The fire was extinguished within 20 minutes and the chip shop was able to open as normal the following day.

But Alessandro Varese, a director of the family business, says the outcome could have been very different.

“It could have been really, really bad,” he told The Courier.

“The business could potentially have been lost but the quickness of the fire service saved us from a bigger issue.”

No customers when fire struck at Blue Lagoon

The shop was open but there were no customers when the fire was spotted at 9.45am.

Three staff members were present at the time.

“It was an electrical issue but we are not entirely sure if it was an appliance or faulty socket that caused it,” Alessandro said.

“It was traumatic at the time.

“Staff tried to deal with it with a fire extinguisher but unfortunately they couldn’t put it out.

“They phoned the fire brigade and we are very, very thankful to them because they came out in less than 10 minutes.

“They did a great job at putting the fire out.

“Thankfully it didn’t cause too much damage – just to the back wall area.”

Staff praised for helping to get Perth chip shop reopened

Staff returned to the shop two hours later, where they worked with contractors until midnight to get it ready for trading the following day.

“The staff are a resilient bunch who tried to attack the fire themselves which we are grateful for.

“Big thanks to them for helping out, the contractors for pulling out all the stops and the fire brigade for attacking the fire so quickly.”

Alessandro wants to send out a clear message that the chip shop is open as usual.

“I think there might be some confusion,” he said.

“After the incident maybe people think we are closed but we want to get the message out that it is business as normal.

“People are very welcome to come back.”