Grant
Administrator
Cause of fire found; restaurant to renovate
By Katie Curley
Staff writer
NEWBURYPORT — Saturday night's restaurant fire at Glenn's Galley and Cool Bar downtown was sparked by buildup caused by the restaurant's wood-burning oven, Newburyport Fire Department said yesterday.
Deputy fire Chief Stephen Bradbury said the formal cause of the fire was creosote buildup in the vents. The actual vent caught fire farther down the ventilation shaft, located 30 to 40 feet from the kitchen, in the hallway.
"Creosotes are highly flammable," Bradbury said. "It happens when you use wood to cook; they are the only restaurant in Newburyport that uses a wood oven. Most have a pizza oven with a gas flame, but Glenn's burns wood."
Creosotes are the resulting residues that stick to the inner walls of chimneys and vents as substances exit the fireplace or wood stove and flow up into the cooler chimney or vent.
Creosote is black or brown and can be tar-like and sticky, as well as highly combustible. According to Bradbury, the vents and duct work were last inspected in September by an independent company. The fire department and health department had also inspected it in December.
"They have to post on the hood that it was inspected by a company," Bradbury said. "We inspected in December, and the hood was tagged that it had been inspected."
Health Agent Jack Morris said he inspects restaurants every six months, and without reading through Glenn's file, he did not know of any previous violations.
"When we inspect, we look to see when the last time the vents were inspected," Morris said. "If we can visibly see grease caked on, we order it cleaned, but generally restaurants have a contract with a company to clean them every three to six months depending on the amount of grease you accumulate."
At approximately 8:45 p.m., at the height of the restaurant's Saturday night dinner rush, kitchen staff reported they heard the sounds of a fire in the cooking vent. They recognized the problem and sought immediately to shut down the ducts and keep the unseen fire contained to the first floor of the building. The restaurant was at full capacity at the time.
Trucks from surrounding towns were called in to help Newburyport firefighters battle the one-alarm blaze. The four-story building sustained some damage, but the fire was mostly contained to the restaurant and ground floor offices in the building.
The owner of 44 Merrimac Street, Merrimac Mill Inc., said yesterday business was as usual for offices not located on the ground or first floor of the building.
"We mostly had water damage to the front, bottom two floors," building manager Jan Tracy said. "We are getting cleaned up and back in business."
Tracy said the ground floor office of the C-10 Organization was affected, as well as Glenn's.
"The C-10 people are actually in there today testing their equipment and making sure everything works," Tracy said. "The fire department had the forethought to go down and cover everything with tarp, so it wasn't that bad."
Calls to C-10 were not immediately returned. Restaurant co-owner Glenn Mayers refused to comment. Mayers runs the restaurant along with Charlene Ferreira.
Yesterday the restaurant's Web site read "Glenn's Restaurant will be closed for renovations. Please check back for our date to reopen."
Bradbury said when they were approaching 44 Merrimac St. from Green Street, they thought the fire was through the roof and they would be there all night until it was down to the foundation.
"It was pretty contained," Bradbury said. "The building presented a problem for a small fire department like ours."
By Katie Curley
Staff writer
NEWBURYPORT — Saturday night's restaurant fire at Glenn's Galley and Cool Bar downtown was sparked by buildup caused by the restaurant's wood-burning oven, Newburyport Fire Department said yesterday.
Deputy fire Chief Stephen Bradbury said the formal cause of the fire was creosote buildup in the vents. The actual vent caught fire farther down the ventilation shaft, located 30 to 40 feet from the kitchen, in the hallway.
"Creosotes are highly flammable," Bradbury said. "It happens when you use wood to cook; they are the only restaurant in Newburyport that uses a wood oven. Most have a pizza oven with a gas flame, but Glenn's burns wood."
Creosotes are the resulting residues that stick to the inner walls of chimneys and vents as substances exit the fireplace or wood stove and flow up into the cooler chimney or vent.
Creosote is black or brown and can be tar-like and sticky, as well as highly combustible. According to Bradbury, the vents and duct work were last inspected in September by an independent company. The fire department and health department had also inspected it in December.
"They have to post on the hood that it was inspected by a company," Bradbury said. "We inspected in December, and the hood was tagged that it had been inspected."
Health Agent Jack Morris said he inspects restaurants every six months, and without reading through Glenn's file, he did not know of any previous violations.
"When we inspect, we look to see when the last time the vents were inspected," Morris said. "If we can visibly see grease caked on, we order it cleaned, but generally restaurants have a contract with a company to clean them every three to six months depending on the amount of grease you accumulate."
At approximately 8:45 p.m., at the height of the restaurant's Saturday night dinner rush, kitchen staff reported they heard the sounds of a fire in the cooking vent. They recognized the problem and sought immediately to shut down the ducts and keep the unseen fire contained to the first floor of the building. The restaurant was at full capacity at the time.
Trucks from surrounding towns were called in to help Newburyport firefighters battle the one-alarm blaze. The four-story building sustained some damage, but the fire was mostly contained to the restaurant and ground floor offices in the building.
The owner of 44 Merrimac Street, Merrimac Mill Inc., said yesterday business was as usual for offices not located on the ground or first floor of the building.
"We mostly had water damage to the front, bottom two floors," building manager Jan Tracy said. "We are getting cleaned up and back in business."
Tracy said the ground floor office of the C-10 Organization was affected, as well as Glenn's.
"The C-10 people are actually in there today testing their equipment and making sure everything works," Tracy said. "The fire department had the forethought to go down and cover everything with tarp, so it wasn't that bad."
Calls to C-10 were not immediately returned. Restaurant co-owner Glenn Mayers refused to comment. Mayers runs the restaurant along with Charlene Ferreira.
Yesterday the restaurant's Web site read "Glenn's Restaurant will be closed for renovations. Please check back for our date to reopen."
Bradbury said when they were approaching 44 Merrimac St. from Green Street, they thought the fire was through the roof and they would be there all night until it was down to the foundation.
"It was pretty contained," Bradbury said. "The building presented a problem for a small fire department like ours."
