Palo Alto, CA – Restaurant fire controlled with help from sprinkler system

A restaurant fire in Palo Alto led to street closures in downtown last Monday afternoon.  Crews responded to multiple reports from passersby of a structure fire at Three Seasons restaurant at 518 Bryant St. shortly before 2:30 p.m., when smoke and flames were visible from the two-story building, according to emergency-radio dispatches. When firefighters arrived, a restaurant manager told them the restaurant was empty and they made their way inside, according to dispatch radio.

Plumes of smoke were coming from the roof. Palo Alto Fire Battalion Chief Bobby Davis said the fire started in the kitchen and spread over the stove and other equipment. Flames in the kitchen went up the flue to the roof. Two of three vents burned up, he said. The blaze was extinguished about 20 minutes later. No one was injured and no other buildings were damaged. There was some smoke and water damage where the sprinkler system turned on, Davis said.

The cause of the fire was not immediately apparent, and fire officials are still doing a formal investigation, he said. Police had blocked off University and Hamilton avenues between Bryant and Ramona streets until about 4 p.m., the agency said on Twitter.