Hotel / Restaurant, Restaurant Purcellville, VA – Restaurant kitchen fire contained by automatic sprinkler system November 20, 2015 viking210 A Purcellville restaurant sustained damage Monday after someone improperly disposed oil soaked rags. Firefighters arrived at the Rancho Mexican restaurant at 101 S. Maple St. on scene to find smoke coming from the front of the restaurant. Fire and rescue crew’s immediately located a fire in the kitchen area that was held in check by an automatic sprinkler system. Firefighters quickly brought hoselines into the restaurant to extinguish what fire remained. Simultaneously, fire and rescue units searched the adjoining occupancies for occupants and any extension of fire or smoke. After the fire was out, firefighters began salvage and overhaul operations to remove smoke and gases from the building. There were no injuries to civilians, however, one firefighter suffered a minor hand injury. The improper disposal of oil soaked rags was determined to be the cause of two other recent fires, one in May and another in June, that caused over $2 million in damages. When oil and stain soaked rags are not disposed of properly they become a fire hazard due to their ability to spontaneously combust, according to Loudoun Fire and Rescue.
