Told Fire Started in Forks Kitchen
Estimate a Quarter Million in Damage
See below for Wednesday evening update
An early morning fire damaged the Packing House early Wednesday morning. A brief story was posted on the Daily Bulletin website. No injuries were reported.
Our later information is that the fire started in the Forks Restaurant kitchen, and may have caused some $250,000 in damage. The restaurant will apparently be closed for at least a few weeks--the height of the holiday season.
No word on damage to the Claremont Art Museum [click on the preceding link for an entertaining error message that the Art Museum has evaporated from cyberspace. All we can say is, it was here this morning] or about water damage in the Packing House due to its sprinkler system. Since the Packing house is constructed primarily out of 100-year old wood, and the floor at least is impregnated with polyurethane resin, comparison to a tinder-box is not inapt.
We understand that once the fire-safety sprinkler system goes off, it can dump a whole lot of water in a hurry. Don't know how the system is plumbed, or whether it goes off in zones or all at once.
We'll update as information becomes available. Nothing on the City website as this is written.
UPDATE: The Daily Bulletin has a more detailed article with a photo gallery. It seems that the fire started in a wall and gutted the kitchen. We are not trying to minimize the damage, but truth be told we've seen many kitchens in everyday use that looked in worse shape than the one in the pictures in the photo gallery. Smoke damage--again from the pictures--appears minimal; but then you smell it when you don't see it. See the pictures in the photo gallery at the Bulletin.
Arson was on everyone's lips today, so it was somewhat comforting to see in the article that "arson was ruled out", at least according to owner Mark Bollinger.
The fire started about 3:30 a.m., and was out by 4:30 a.m. Casa 425, across the street, was evacuated.
Kitchen Fires Can Get Out of Hand Quickly
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