Smoke pours out of the Cozy Corner Tavern, 198 E. Main St., Hermiston on Sunday, July 30, 2023, as firefighters work the blaze. Officials said the fire started in the basement of the 76-year-old business.

HERMISTON — Firefighters on Monday, July 31, remained at the scene of a basement fire that gutted the 76-year-old Cozy Corner Tavern a day earlier.

Umatilla County Fire District No. 1 Chief Scott Stanton said crews were still battling hot spots inside the structure at 198 E. Main St.

“Due to the floor and eventually a portion of the ceiling falling in, it creates voids that are hard for us to get at to fully extinguish,” he said. “We had crews there all night and will all day today again.”

The chief said personnel prevented the blaze from extending to the Rekindle Church next door and that Second Street would likely be shut down all day. He also said the cause of the fire was still undetermined.

According to Stanton, the station received the fire call at 2:59 p.m. Sunday, July 30. He said firefighters arrived within a minute of the report and attempted to access the tavern’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 that evening. “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. Some of the floor has already collapsed into the basement.”

At around 5:40 p.m. Sunday, firefighters had cut several holes in the tavern’s roof for ventilation. Stanton said two ladder trucks, one UCFD No. 1 truck and a Pendleton truck, assisted with the process.

He added that a Cozy Corner employee used an extinguisher on the fire when it started but was unable to put it out. No civilians were hurt in the incident, but one firefighter suffered a minor shoulder injury.

Stanton said at least four engines and two ladder trucks were called in for the fire. Stations from Boardman, Pendleton, Echo, Irrigon and Pilot Rock all responded to the scene while Morrow County Emergency Medical Services handled other area emergency calls.

Cozy Tavern owner Travis Lovell said Monday that he was still processing the loss of his business.

“I haven’t even been in there yet,” he said. “They (firefighters) won’t let me in. It’s terrible. It’s been there since 1946, ’47, so a lot of history was lost.”

He said firefighters allowed him to look into the building through a side door around 3 a.m. Although he wasn’t allowed inside, he said the damage was extensive but unknown. However, he plans to eventually reopen.

“I have great insurance, and started working with them this morning, and definitely plan on rebuilding,” he said. “My father owned it for 20 years before I did. I’ve had it for nine (years), so it’s got a lot of history that is important to me.”

He said various people owned the tavern before his family bought it in the 1990s, and he knows by looking at social media that it meant a lot to people.

“There’s a lot of memories inside of there, pictures and different things that go way back,” he said. “It hasn’t even been 24 hours yet, but the support from people on Main Street and people in general has been amazing.”