‘A staple in this community': Fire tears through Bucks Co. bar and restaurant

A bar and restaurant called a "staple" of Bucks County community went up in flames at a Bensalem strip mall early Thursday.

The two-alarm fire at The Andalusia Bar and Grill at 971 Bristol Pike broke out around 4 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2024. Two hours later, Bensalem firefighters continued to douse water onto the heavily-damaged roof of the Grandview Plaza strip mall.

"Crews arrived on scene to heavy fire from the roof," Bensalem Township Fire Battalion Chief Robert Sponheimer said.

Léelo en español aquí.

Firefighters entered the shopping plaza in an attempt to battle the flames, however, they "were forced out of the building due to amount of fire and smoke conditions," Sponheimer said.

After a second alarm was called, around 70 firefighters were able to get the fire under control around 5 a.m., Sponheimer said. However, crews remained on the scene putting out hot spots.

Luckily, no one was injured.

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"The bar has been here for a number of years, it's been a staple in this community for a long time," Sponheimer said.

Most of the fire damage was centered to the recently-renovated Andalusia Bar, however, smoke damage spread to other businesses in the strip mall, Sponheimer said.

A barber shop, insurance office, pizza place and nail salon are among the other businesses in the Grandview Plaza. Those other businesses would need to be examined before they could potentially reopen.

The cause of the fire wasn't immediately clear.

There were some road closures in the area as firefighters continued to put out hot spots and investigate the cause of the blaze through the morning.