Fire destroys South Dakota biker bar known from reality TV show

[September 09, 2015]  By Kayla Gahagan
 
 (Reuters) - Fire destroyed a popular biker bar in Sturgis, South Dakota on Tuesday that was a centerpiece of the city's annual motorcycle rally and was featured on a reality television show, the local fire department said.

No injuries were reported in the early morning blaze that consumed the main building of the Full Throttle Saloon, the department said. The Full Throttle opened in 1999 and billed itself as the world's largest biker bar.

Firefighters from Sturgis and five other departments in western South Dakota fought the fire, the department said. The state fire marshal was investigating the cause of the blaze, officials said.

The Full Throttle boasted concert stages, a wrestling ring, zip lines and rental cabins, and was said to serve up to 15,000 people a day during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

The bar was the subject of a reality television series, also titled Full Throttle Saloon, that ran for five years starting in 2009 on the TruTV cable network.

The bar's owner, Michael Ballard, could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Kayla Gahagan in Rapid City, South Dakota; Editing by David Bailey and Will Dunham)

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