LAKEPORT — What an employee described as a “mini-explosion” brought police and fire responders to Porter Street Barbecue restaurant in the High Street Village shopping complex Wednesday morning.
Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells said at the scene that the fire originated in the restaurant”s kitchen in the wall above the stove. It consumed rafters and material in an approximately five-foot area in the restaurant”s attic. “We”re investigating the cause; it”s still undetermined,” Wells said.
“When I walked in this morning I heard a high-pitched siren noise going off,” restaurant employee Tammy Thompson said at the scene. Thompson said she was the first to arrive at the restaurant when the fire ignited shortly before 9 a.m. “All of a sudden it just went poof,” Thompson said. She described a small explosion in a corner of the restaurant”s kitchen that rose from the floor.
“We”ve narrowed it down to where it appears that there”s really no other obvious ignition source than electrical; there are no gas lines and it was an enclosed space,” Lakeport fire captain Bob Ray said Wednesday afternoon.
Ray said a fire in the wall heated appears to have caused what appeared to be a separate grease fire that ignited repeatedly, despite Thompson”s attempts to quell it with a wall-mounted fire extinguisher.
“Once she put it out, that did not extinguish everything,” Ray said. “At that point she realized she had a bigger problem, called 9-1-1 and talked to central dispatch.” Ray said that at some point during or following the conversation, the fire on the face of the wall reignited. “When we got there we found the fire in the wall and ceiling in the attic space above the kitchen,” Ray said.
Ray said the kitchen took structural and smoke damage, and the adjoining restaurant also took smoke damage. The building that houses several other businesses was unoccupied, according to Ray. No injuries were reported.
Restaurant owner Tim Chastain said the kitchen”s ceiling now has a large hole in it, and was not sure how long repairs would take. “We”re going to have to be closed for at least two weeks, but I”m not sure how many weeks,” Chastain said. He said more than $1,000 worth of food was lost.
“I don”t know what”s going to happen to my employees,” Chastain said. “I can”t afford to lose employees.” Chastain said insurance investigators will begin assessing the damage today.
Wells said firefighters were dispatched at 8:51 a.m. Two Lakeport engines, a medic unit and Chief Wells responded, along with a fire truck from the Kelseyville Fire Department. High Street was closed between 16th and 20th streets for approximately half an hour.
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