Long Story Short and Storytellers distillery vows to rebuild after Brompton fire

The owners of a Brompton distillery say they were surprised by what survived after a fire at a neighbouring property left their building in ruins.

A gin distillery business will rebuild after a large fire at a neighbouring property caused a wall to fall through the roof of its building.

When a huge blaze engulfed a property on First Street, at Brompton on Monday, more than 60 firefighters were quickly deployed to stop the fire spreading to adjoining businesses.

Right next door at Long Story Short and Storytellers distillery, hundreds of bottles containing 96 per cent ethanol posed the most significant threat.

Neighbouring business owners Nick Wyatt-Smith and Lachlan Gunner on the scene of a fire in a warehouse on First Street in Brompton. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

While emergency services worked tirelessly to stop the fire spreading, they could not prevent a large wall from falling and penetrating the roof of the neighbouring property.

But after inspecting the damage again on Tuesday morning, distiller Lachlan Gunner said he was in good spirits.

“You’d be surprised how many bottles don’t break when they fall from three metres high. Luck is the word that comes to mind,” he said.

“Obviously there were a lot that did and it’s a little hard to tell how much we’ve lost at this stage.”

A gin distiller is still counting the damage bill after large fire at a neighbouring property caused a wall to collapse through the distillery's roof. Picture: Facebook

Brompton Fire

BROMPTON FIRE

He said they were hopeful there doors would only be closed for four to eight weeks.

“It’s going to be similar to when we started lockdowns during Covid and had to close our doors. Our main priority is looking after our staff who have obviously lost the opportunity to work because of this,” he said.

He said the outpouring of support from the community had been overwhelming.

“It just shines a light on how collaborative the distilling industry is,” he said.

But Mr Gunner hadn’t put any thought into whether the incident would inspire his next product.

“There is definitely going to be a story to tell isn’t there? But there’s nothing in the plans at this stage,” he said.

Fire cause investigators attended the scene on Tuesday and have been unable to determine a cause of the blaze, however it was not considered suspicious.

The damage bill of the house destroyed by fire was estimated to be around $300,000.

An MFS unit was sent to the property again just before 3pm on Tuesday after reports the fire had reignited.

New video of fiery stoush as Brompton blaze

A huge blaze at a property in Adelaide’s northwest has triggered a fiery clash on the street between workers from nearby businesses and a woman at the scene of an incinerated building.

Firefighters struggled to re-enter the destroyed building after Monday’s blaze, so fire crews will try to reach the premises on Tuesday morning to try to assess the amount of damage and possible cause.

At the time of the fire, a group of workers engaged in a verbal stoush with the woman after she started screaming obscenities at the press at the scene.

“Your f***ing junkie brother burnt the building down you f***ing idiot,” one man said.

Another man told the woman to “get the f***ing junkies out of there”.

“Get your f***ing cars out of here,” she responded.

Police and MFS on the scene of the warehouse fire in Brompton. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Emergency services are at the scene of the fire in Brompton. Picture: Todd Lewis

About 60 firefighters and more than 15 trucks were sent to First Street, at Brompton, with crews using a cherry picker in a bid to stop a fire spreading to a neighbouring distillery.

Fire crews were alerted to the incident just before 12pm Monday.

Jacob Dilettoso was working at a panel-beaters across the road when he noticed flames coming from the property.

“We saw the black smoke going up and then all the shop owners and workers came out and just started moving cars,” he said. “It was just hectic.”

He said he saw several occupants run from the burning building.

“I asked if there was anyone else in the building because two people ran out and they said there was no one else, but then three other people came running out,” he said.

He said police had been called regularly to the site.

Jim, who operates neighbouring business JV Classic and Muscle Car Peformance, said he was fed up with the continuing issues at the property.

MFS had to use a cherry picker to tackle the blaze. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

He said there would often be dozens of people loitering around on weekends.

“If you come here on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, there would often be (people) hanging out the front,” he said.

“I just don’t work at that time anymore because I don’t want (those loitering) seeing my workshop.”

Lachlan Gunner and Nico Wyatt-Smith, from Storytellers Distillery next door, said they were shocked by the incident.

Falling bricks from the burning building penetrated the roof of their business, smashing several bottles of gin.

“It’s pretty shocking to see, it must be worse for Lachy, because he poured his heart and soul into this,” Mr Wyatt-Smith said.

Jacob Dilettoso was working at a panel-beaters across the road when he noticed flames. Picture: Todd Lewis

“It’s good to see it’s been contained and that our workplace and livelihood doesn’t seem to be on fire.”

Metropolitan Fire Service assistant chief officer Peter Mason said crews managed to contain the fire to the one building.

“There was a high fuel load inside, so once we had the all clear that there was no persons involved, we just went on a defensive attack,” he said.

“We’ve done a pretty good job, because on the inside of that place it is very cluttered.”

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined and MFS crews will remain at the scene for a number of hours.

Mr Mason said fire-cause investigators were unlikely to be able to assess the building until Tuesday morning.

The threat of thick black smoke from the fire has been downgraded, the MFS said.