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Administrator
Flames close Cap’n Simeon’s Galley
By Deborah McDermott
dmcdermott@seacoastonline.com
Complete Maine News Index
KITTERY POINT, Maine - Cap’n Simeon’s Galley owner Cindy Frisbee said Monday she is determined to reopen as quickly as possible, after a Saturday evening fire caused extensive damage to the first- and second-floor kitchens and forced evacuation of diners.
"It would have been great if it had happened in March," said a philosophical Frisbee, "but that’s not the way life presented itself."
Firefighters were called to the Kittery Point restaurant around 7 p.m. Saturday after employees noticed a fire in the wall behind the stove hood in the first-floor kitchen. Frisbee said fast-thinking workers tried to douse the blaze using fire extinguishers, which Fire Chief Dave O’Brien later told her prevented more serious damage.
According to O’Brien, the fire went straight up the wall to a second-floor kitchen, and firefighters had to keep ripping out Sheetrock to get to the source. He said they were able to extinguish the blaze before it went out through the roof.
O’Brien placed damage to the structure and the contents at around $100,000. Frisbee said all food that had been prepped for the evening had to be discarded. The kitchen equipment sustained damage from firefighting foam and some was damaged when it was yanked away from the walls, she said.
Some 25 firefighters from Kittery and Eliot battled the fire until midnight. The York Fire Department provided station coverage. Motorists on Route 103 were diverted onto other roads from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Frisbee said she expects the restaurant will be closed for at least two weeks and perhaps as long as a month for repairs. She said the Lobster on the Rocks, an open-air restaurant behind Captain Simeon’s, will be open by the weekend and will remain open during the summer.
She said she has a "loyal staff," which she hopes will be able to hang on until Captain Simeon’s reopens. She said her staff, and many, many community members, have been "so nice," expressing their condolences.
"So I’m trying to keep my chin up and look to the future," she said.
By Deborah McDermott
dmcdermott@seacoastonline.com
Complete Maine News Index
KITTERY POINT, Maine - Cap’n Simeon’s Galley owner Cindy Frisbee said Monday she is determined to reopen as quickly as possible, after a Saturday evening fire caused extensive damage to the first- and second-floor kitchens and forced evacuation of diners.
"It would have been great if it had happened in March," said a philosophical Frisbee, "but that’s not the way life presented itself."
Firefighters were called to the Kittery Point restaurant around 7 p.m. Saturday after employees noticed a fire in the wall behind the stove hood in the first-floor kitchen. Frisbee said fast-thinking workers tried to douse the blaze using fire extinguishers, which Fire Chief Dave O’Brien later told her prevented more serious damage.
According to O’Brien, the fire went straight up the wall to a second-floor kitchen, and firefighters had to keep ripping out Sheetrock to get to the source. He said they were able to extinguish the blaze before it went out through the roof.
O’Brien placed damage to the structure and the contents at around $100,000. Frisbee said all food that had been prepped for the evening had to be discarded. The kitchen equipment sustained damage from firefighting foam and some was damaged when it was yanked away from the walls, she said.
Some 25 firefighters from Kittery and Eliot battled the fire until midnight. The York Fire Department provided station coverage. Motorists on Route 103 were diverted onto other roads from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Frisbee said she expects the restaurant will be closed for at least two weeks and perhaps as long as a month for repairs. She said the Lobster on the Rocks, an open-air restaurant behind Captain Simeon’s, will be open by the weekend and will remain open during the summer.
She said she has a "loyal staff," which she hopes will be able to hang on until Captain Simeon’s reopens. She said her staff, and many, many community members, have been "so nice," expressing their condolences.
"So I’m trying to keep my chin up and look to the future," she said.