UPDATE SUNDAY: Damage to a wood grill at an Albury venue will be assessed on Monday after patrons were forced to evacuate the venue.
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A fire spread in a flue above the grill at The Astor about 5pm on Saturday.
About 50 people were forced to leave the venue, but licensee Brendon Cooper said staff had still managed to cater for an 80-person function.
"There's no great time to have a fire," he said.
"But an hour before dinner service on a Saturday night definitely isn't the best time, that's for sure."
The steel and tin flue has only been in use at the hotel since February and will be examined to ensure it works properly.
A motor and canopy were destroyed in the blaze.
"It was a pretty intense fire," Mr Cooper said.
"There was a lot of commotion.
"Consider how intense it was, the damage isn't as bad as you might have thought it would be."
The damage was contained the flue.
The kitchen is now running at about 80 per cent capacity with a different grill being used, and most foods are still available.
SATURDAY: A small fire in a pizza oven of an Albury pub was quickly brought under control by Fire Rescue NSW crews.
The Astor in Albury was evacuated just before 5pm when a fire broke out.
Fire and Rescue Superintendent Stewart Alexander said crews were alerted of the fire by an automated alarm.
"That was a good outcome as crews got the notification early on and were able to get there quickly," he said.
"The fire is extinguished and everything is under control.
"About 50 people were evacuated."
After 90 minutes, firefighters remain on scene cleaning up but it is expected the Astor will continue trading tonight.
Superintendent Alexander said the amount of smoke indicated a larger fire than there actually was, due to the oil.
"The fire got up into the flue, so there was quite a bit of smoke," he said.
"Even though there was a lot of smoke, it was quickly brought under control."
Earlier:
Fire and Rescue crews are attending a blaze at the Astor in Albury.
Multiple units were called to the scene around 5pm.
Superintendent Stewart Alexander said evacuations were underway due to a fire in the kitchen exhaust flue.
Firefighters were checking for fire spread to the roof area but there were no reported injuries.
About 50 people were present at the time of the fire.
The fire was extinguished within half an hour.
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