A minor fire broke out in the pavement roof area of Broughton Street's Phoenix Bar early on Friday afternoon.
A small portion of the 19th-century extension was removed by the Fire Brigade to isolate the source of the problem.
Regulars – gathered impatiently on the other side of the street – speculated that decorators' use of blow torches to strip back paintwork, combined with warm and windy weather, may have caused the fire.
At this stage it appears that there were no injuries, although many hours later an Evening News sub-editor is reported to have been treated for hysteria after writing 'The Phoenix has gone up in flames'.