Firefighters spray water Sunday, July 30, 2023, into the Cozy Corner Tavern, Hermiston, where a basement fire erupted and gutted the establishment.

HERMISTON — A basement fire Sunday afternoon, July 30, gutted a 76-year-old tavern in Hermiston.

According to Umatilla County Fire District No. 1 Chief Scott Stanton, the station received a call at 2:59 p.m. for a fire at the Cozy Corner Tavern, 198 E. Main St. He said firefighters arrived within a minute of the report and attempted to access the building’s single-entry basement but couldn’t because of smoke and heat.

“We got down to the bottom, and basically, the heat and smoke forced us back,” he said. “So then we started working on cutting into the floor to vent it out, using a piercing nozzle … but the fire extended too fast, too hard on us to where we had to back out and extend into the roof structure now. Some of the floor has already collapsed into the basement now.”

Stanton said at 5:40 p.m. that firefighters had cut several holes in the tavern’s roof. Two ladder trucks, plus one UCFD1 and Pendleton truck, assisted with its ventilation. He hoped to have the fire out within 30-60 minutes.

The fire’s cause is currently unknown. According to Stanton, a Cozy Corner Tavern employee used an extinguisher on the fire when it started but was unable to put it out.

At least four engines and two ladder trucks were called in for the incident. Stanton said stations from Boardman, Pendleton, Echo, Irrigon and Pilot Rock also responded, and Morrow County Emergency Medical Services handled other area emergency calls while his crew worked the fire.

“That’s why we got help because we don’t have enough people to handle everything,” he said. “This (fire) takes all our people, but we still have other emergencies.”

The Hermiston Herald attempted to contact Cozy Corner Tavern owner Travis Lovell but was unsuccessful.