Firefighters take a break while fighting the two-alarm fire at Hot Dog Charlie's in Lansingburgh Friday morning. (Photo by Jeff Couch)
A firefighter cuts a vent hole in the roof of Hot Dog Charlie's in Troy Friday morning.
Firefighters approach the Hot Dog Charlie's fire from the front to attack the flames in the rear of the building. (Photo by Jeff Couch)
By Danielle Sanzone
The Record
Flames leap from roof as a smokey fire damages Hot Dog Charlie's and spreads to neighboring Trader Ed's Friday morning. (Photo by Jeff Couch)
TROY — A two-alarm fire at Hot Dog Charlie’s, Friday morning has neighbors of the historic eatery pointing fingers.
Terry Fredrick, general manager of Trader Ed’s, located next door and also damaged by the fire, claims the blaze could have been avoided if Hot Dog Charlie’s management had heeded warnings from them, regarding cleaning the kitchen’s grease hood.
Firefighters were called to the scene of 626 Second Ave., in Lansingburgh, the address of the landmark hot dog shop, around 10:30 a.m.
Following the two-alarm fire, the front of the building, with broken windows and a charred wooden frame, looks like a total loss, but fire officials said they believed it could be saved, said Troy’s Fire Chief Tom Garrett.
While officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, Chuck Fentekes, a third-generation owner of Hot Dog Charlie’s, said his sister, Florence, was getting ready to open the store for the day and was inside the building when the blaze ignited.
“It was a grease fire and it went up the hood. She tried to use a fire extinguisher, but grease fires are very hard to put out,” said Fentekes, whose grandfather opened the first Hot Dog Charlie’s on Congress Street in Troy in 1922. Its former location is currently a parking lot at the corner of Congress and Fifth Streets.
The owner of the Trader Ed’s Nautical Pub and Restaurant said he visited the Hot Dog Charlie’s kitchen two days before the fire and requested that staffers clean the grease hood since, Fredrick claimed, it was a fire hazard.
“This fire was a result of them not doing the right thing and blatantly disregarding cleaning their hood,” said Fredrick, who said he often visited with his friends the Fentekes at their business.
Although Fentekes could not pinpoint when the ventilation hood was last cleaned, he said, “We get our hood cleaned frequently.”
Hot Dog Charlie’s suffered severe smoke, fire and water damage throughout the establishment, in the vacant apartments on the second floor, and in the roof.
The fire spread to Trader Ed’s which has minor water damage in the front dining room and bar, but the kitchen and the second floor apartments will need to be gutted, said Fredrick adding that he believed Hot Dog Charlie’s would need to be demolished since the wall the two buildings share needs to be rebuilt.
The brick structure at 622 Second Ave. also had some smoke damage, said Garrett.
“I’ve been told (Hot Dog Charlie’s) is a total loss,” said Fredrick.
But Garrett disagreed, “That’s an opinion. I think it can be saved.”
Everyone in the buildings was evacuated and no one was injured. One firefighter suffered from minor heat exhaustion, said Garrett.
Trader Ed’s is situated in a 1787 building that was also originally used as a tavern and where Gen. John Burgoyne and George Washington once frequented, according to local lore. It has been at the Lansingburgh location since late 2007 and the Hot Dog Charlie’s has been in its location since the 1970s.
Both businesses have insurance to cover at least some of the damages.
The Hot Dog Charlie’s store employs about six people and the Trader Ed’s has about 11 staffers, said the respective owners.
While Fentekes said he was still waiting to hear about whether the building could be salvaged, Fredrick said he hoped to open Trader Ed’s again once repairs were made. He said it was too soon to give a timeframe of when it could reopen.
“Trader Ed’s has become an institution in the Capital District,” he said.
Crews which responded to the fire were from Troy, Green Island, Cohoes, Watervliet, Albany, and an EMS team from Colonie.
Six residents in the two apartments above Trader Ed’s have been displaced and are being assisted by the Red Cross, officials said.
There are other Hot Dog Charlie’s locations in Cohoes and Rensselaer, and another store is expected to open in the coming weeks in Saratoga Springs, said Fentekes.
Both establishments were looking forward to having busy holiday weekends.
“I hope they can be reopened,” said Eddie Zepf of Troy, an onlooker at the fire. “Hot Dog Charlie’s has some of the best hot dogs in the area.”
Cleaning Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Systems Since 1971
5734 Bankfield Avenue
Culver City, California 90230
310-636-8361 x 203
Grant Mogford
A firefighter cuts a vent hole in the roof of Hot Dog Charlie's in Troy Friday morning.
Firefighters approach the Hot Dog Charlie's fire from the front to attack the flames in the rear of the building. (Photo by Jeff Couch)
By Danielle Sanzone
The Record
Flames leap from roof as a smokey fire damages Hot Dog Charlie's and spreads to neighboring Trader Ed's Friday morning. (Photo by Jeff Couch)
TROY — A two-alarm fire at Hot Dog Charlie’s, Friday morning has neighbors of the historic eatery pointing fingers.
Terry Fredrick, general manager of Trader Ed’s, located next door and also damaged by the fire, claims the blaze could have been avoided if Hot Dog Charlie’s management had heeded warnings from them, regarding cleaning the kitchen’s grease hood.
Firefighters were called to the scene of 626 Second Ave., in Lansingburgh, the address of the landmark hot dog shop, around 10:30 a.m.
Following the two-alarm fire, the front of the building, with broken windows and a charred wooden frame, looks like a total loss, but fire officials said they believed it could be saved, said Troy’s Fire Chief Tom Garrett.
While officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, Chuck Fentekes, a third-generation owner of Hot Dog Charlie’s, said his sister, Florence, was getting ready to open the store for the day and was inside the building when the blaze ignited.
“It was a grease fire and it went up the hood. She tried to use a fire extinguisher, but grease fires are very hard to put out,” said Fentekes, whose grandfather opened the first Hot Dog Charlie’s on Congress Street in Troy in 1922. Its former location is currently a parking lot at the corner of Congress and Fifth Streets.
The owner of the Trader Ed’s Nautical Pub and Restaurant said he visited the Hot Dog Charlie’s kitchen two days before the fire and requested that staffers clean the grease hood since, Fredrick claimed, it was a fire hazard.
“This fire was a result of them not doing the right thing and blatantly disregarding cleaning their hood,” said Fredrick, who said he often visited with his friends the Fentekes at their business.
Although Fentekes could not pinpoint when the ventilation hood was last cleaned, he said, “We get our hood cleaned frequently.”
Hot Dog Charlie’s suffered severe smoke, fire and water damage throughout the establishment, in the vacant apartments on the second floor, and in the roof.
The fire spread to Trader Ed’s which has minor water damage in the front dining room and bar, but the kitchen and the second floor apartments will need to be gutted, said Fredrick adding that he believed Hot Dog Charlie’s would need to be demolished since the wall the two buildings share needs to be rebuilt.
The brick structure at 622 Second Ave. also had some smoke damage, said Garrett.
“I’ve been told (Hot Dog Charlie’s) is a total loss,” said Fredrick.
But Garrett disagreed, “That’s an opinion. I think it can be saved.”
Everyone in the buildings was evacuated and no one was injured. One firefighter suffered from minor heat exhaustion, said Garrett.
Trader Ed’s is situated in a 1787 building that was also originally used as a tavern and where Gen. John Burgoyne and George Washington once frequented, according to local lore. It has been at the Lansingburgh location since late 2007 and the Hot Dog Charlie’s has been in its location since the 1970s.
Both businesses have insurance to cover at least some of the damages.
The Hot Dog Charlie’s store employs about six people and the Trader Ed’s has about 11 staffers, said the respective owners.
While Fentekes said he was still waiting to hear about whether the building could be salvaged, Fredrick said he hoped to open Trader Ed’s again once repairs were made. He said it was too soon to give a timeframe of when it could reopen.
“Trader Ed’s has become an institution in the Capital District,” he said.
Crews which responded to the fire were from Troy, Green Island, Cohoes, Watervliet, Albany, and an EMS team from Colonie.
Six residents in the two apartments above Trader Ed’s have been displaced and are being assisted by the Red Cross, officials said.
There are other Hot Dog Charlie’s locations in Cohoes and Rensselaer, and another store is expected to open in the coming weeks in Saratoga Springs, said Fentekes.
Both establishments were looking forward to having busy holiday weekends.
“I hope they can be reopened,” said Eddie Zepf of Troy, an onlooker at the fire. “Hot Dog Charlie’s has some of the best hot dogs in the area.”
Cleaning Commercial Kitchen Exhaust Systems Since 1971
5734 Bankfield Avenue
Culver City, California 90230
310-636-8361 x 203
Grant Mogford
