Investigators are blaming an electrical malfunction for a fire inside a Port Deposit restaurant and bar on Thursday morning, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office. “The sprinklers contained the fire to the area of origin. Without a doubt, it stopped the fire from spreading,” Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver J. Alkire said.
About 30 firefighters with volunteer fire companies from Port Deposit, Perryville and Rising Sun rushed to Joe’s Grog House at 26 S. Main Street about 9:20 a.m., after smoke alarms inside the business activated, fire officials said, adding that the business was not open at the time.
“There was smoke showing when we arrived,” said EMS Chief Wayne Tome of the Water Witch (Port Deposit) Volunteer Fire Company. It took firefighters approximately 20 minutes to bring the fire and heavy smoke under control, which involved ventilating the building with fans, Tome said.
Alkire determined that the blaze started inside a section of the actual bar, where patrons stand or sit and order drinks and food, he said. Alkire concluded that wiring inside that bar wall had malfunctioned, sparking the fire, he added. That section of bar is near one of the establishment’s front doors. “The fire has been ruled accidental due to an electrical failure,” Alkire said.
He and Tome both noted that a sprinkler system inside Joe’s Grog House activated and prevented more extensive damage. Joe’s Grog House occupies the first-floor of an historic three-story building, Alkire said, adding that 16 tenants live in seven apartments on the second and third floors of that structure.
“Electricity was restored to the building, and no tenants were displaced as a result of the fire,” said Alkire, who noted that the volunteer firefighters quick response after the smoke alarms alerted also was a key factor. Tome echoed Alkire, remarking, “The sprinklers definitely held the fire in check until we could get there. That’s why sprinklers are so important.”
Walking into The Lobster restaurant, past the full bar and into the dining area that overlooks the Santa Monica Pier, it’s almost impossible to notice the area where a fire in the kitchen spread to a booth early Saturday morning. A white sheet temporarily covered the area earlier this week, the only visible reminder of the incident.
The Lobster, a fresh seafood restaurant off Ocean Avenue next to the mouth of the Santa Monica Pier,reopened Monday after a two-day closure. The fire is believed to have sprouted from a kitchen stove and leaped the wall it shared with a booth on the other side, catching the booth afire and splintering its glass headboard mounted on the wall.
The fire lasted from 6:13 am to 6:33 am before the restaurant’s sprinkler system put out the short-lived flames. “We are still under investigation,” said Lynne Thomas, Marketing Director and Director of Community Events at The Lobster, “but as of now we believe that it was a heat fire that fortunately only sparked the booth.”
The restaurant’s cleaning crew was the first to notice the fire Saturday morning, immediately reporting it to the Santa Monica Fire Department, who shortly thereafter arrived on the scene,spraying a fire extinguisher that killed the dying embers. “We were very happy it wasn’t worse and very happy no one was hurt,” Thomas said.
Both the stove and the booth were removed earlier this week. The Fire Department is investigating how the fire started. The incident closed the Lobster for two days while they fixed up the damage and charred areas.
“We were closed Saturday and all day Sunday,” said Thomas.“We were pretty much working around the clock to try and get open again…and reopened Monday. “It was hard because so many people had reservations. It was graduation weekend and it was really sad for us not to be able to reopen. We were doing what we could to get open as soon as we could,” she said.
Reporting on lives and property saved by fire sprinklers
