CHARLOTTE — Firefighters battled a three-alarm fire at a bar in the South End for two and a half hours on Saturday morning.
Smoke was visible across the Charlotte skyline as the Morehead Social went up in flames. Chopper 9 Skyzoon flew over what is left of the building on Monday and captured the nearly demolished building with the roof collapsed.
Channel 9′s Gina Esposito asked investigators about the cause of the fire. Fire investigators said the fire started in the basement, but the damage was so bad it was hard to tell.
Andrew Rogers told Esposito he saw firefighters battling the fire.
“There was a lot of water they had to use,” he said. “They had maybe four to five ladder trucks.”
Ella Hudson said the smoke was heavy as she drove by on the interstate.
“It took three minutes down 77 to breathe because you could feel the smoke in your car still,” she said.
Esposito asked local agencies for fire inspection records and found that the Charlotte Fire Department had issued a number of violations to the bar last year.
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CFD conducted an investigation in June 2024 and issued five violations including fire extinguishers requiring service, unsatisfactory hoor extinguishing systems and an unsecured compressed gas cylinder, according to an email from CFD.
Additionally, officials said the bar’s fire suppression system test certificate and Charlotte fire permit were not posted.
“Charlotte Fire has made multiple follow-ups with the business on September 13, October 16, and November 25, 2024, to determine if these violations have been addressed. However, we have not received any response from the business,” CFD told Esposito in an email.
No fines or citations were issued during those visits as CFD worked closely with the business to help them improve fire safety, a CFD spokesperson told Esposito.
When Esposito asked CFD if the violations could have affected the fire, the department was not able to say for certain.
“It’s difficult to say with certainty. Fire incidents involve many factors, and we can’t speculate on how specific deficiencies may have impacted the situation,” the spokesperson said.
Esposito called, messaged, and emailed the bar’s owner for comment and has yet to hear back. But the owner did post on social media saying they are grateful nobody was hurt, and for the fire department’s response.
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