Officials: Mulch catches fire outside Batavia pub

Mulch caught fire outside Crosstown Pub in Batavia Wednesday evening, sending smoke into the building and setting off the automatic fire alarms, officials said.

Batavia firefighters were called around 9 p.m. to 1890 Mill Street and arrived to find employees dumping water on the flames while patrons evacuated the building, fire officials said in a news release.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze and checked for any extension into the building before ventilating to let the smoke out.

Had the fire happened late at night or if the building didn't have an automatic fire alarm, the fire could have done serious damage to the business, officials said. They also reminded people to properly extinguish smoking materials.

There were no injuries, and damage was estimated around $200.