Fire destroys abandoned Ukiah bar

A shuttered dive bar on the south end of Ukiah was destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.

The Ukiah Valley Fire District responded just after 1 a.m. to the 2000 block of South State Street from its station only two blocks away, according to Division Chief Kevin Jennings.

The former Water Trough bar, which dates to the 1940s and closed in August 2014, was destroyed.

The cause of the fire is undetermined, though Mendocino Sheriff’s Office deputies interviewed two transients reported living in the estimated 3,000-square-foot property.

The overnight incident followed a small fire late last year in an adjacent, detached garage at the same abandoned site. In a similar circumstance, Jennings said the 20-by-20-foot space was not secured well by the owner and was reported occupied by transients when it burned to the ground.

-Kevin Fixler