Betws-y-Coed: Inquiry as fire damages Village Crafts shop
An investigation is being carried out into the cause of a large fire at a gift shop in Betws-y-Coed in Conwy.
North Wales Fire and Rescue Service sent five appliances to the blaze at Village Crafts in Station Approach on Saturday night.
The fire service confirmed that it is not being treated as suspicious.
Business owner Karen Pugh said it was too early to say what caused the blaze, but the roof of the building had collapsed.
The shop employs two full-time and four part-time workers.
Firefighters were called out at about 20:40 GMT and sent a "stop" message just under three hours later.
"I got a call about 8.30 last night and when I got here there was smoke coming out of the roof and they couldn't save it," said Ms Pugh, who also runs the nearby Log Cabin shop.
She said fire investigation officers had begun their work on Sunday morning.
"The roof has collapsed and it's a waiting game now. The building isn't safe and I can't see us getting in there for a couple of days.
"We employ six people, two of them full-time and we took the place over about two-and-a-half years ago, although the shop has been there for many years.
"I'm devastated, but grateful no-one was hurt," she added.
Russ Vaughan, a station manager with North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said although the cause of the blaze is still unknown, there are no suspicious circumstances.
Aled Ellis-Morris said he grabbed a camera from his work at Camalz Media to film the fire, which he said had affected the whole community.
"Quite a few people were standing around, some in their pyjamas. Everyone was shocked.
"Something like this is always bad for tourism because Betws-y-Coed is known for being a tourist area.
"Obviously people aren't going to be able to go back to work either. It's a very sad thing to have happened."