Fire system failure?

GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA
May 12, 2011
Fire knocks out Catch 22 for up to a week

By Times Staff

—

Gloucester firefighters quickly knocked down a fire that broke out Thursday afternoon in the new Catch 22 restaurant on Rogers Street, site of the defunct Old Timers Tavern.

But the co-owner of the restaurant, which debuted in April, said the blaze could shut down the seaside bistro for up to a week to allow time for the needed cause investigation, inspections and other aspects of a fire aftermath.

"We've really tried to build the place up," Rick Barletta said in a phone interview Thursday. "Now, we feel like we've had the rug pulled right out from under us."

The blaze was largely confined to a grease fire in the kitchen, according to Barletta and Gloucester firefighters, and there were no reports of any injuries.

While the blaze was reported from the start as a "grease fire," around 2:45 p.m., early responders reported "smoke showing" from the building, and others quickly declared the blaze a "working fire."

Firefighters, however, had the blaze knocked down around 3:10, and all of the emergency units had pulled back from the scene by 4 p.m.

Fire and other emergency crews had blocked Rogers Street at Tally's Corner, briefly snarling traffic in a busy corner of Gloucester's downtown.

But the streets were also reopened by 4 p.m., allowing for normal traffic patterns during the busy 5 to 6 p.m. time frame.

The opening of the Catch 22 — in the building that long held one of the city's more raucous harborside bars — is being seen as positive step for the West End of Rogers Street, adding to an already blossoming economic blend with Latitude 43 and its Minglewood Tavern and the new home of the Cape Ann Brewery, both on the opposite side of the street.

The Old Timers, which shut down after a beating incident outside the bar in April 2009 and two subsequent license suspensions, had been vacant for more than a year before Catch 22's debut breathed new life into the building the weekend of April 16.

A team of 15 local contractors, carpenters, and craftsmen worked round-the-clock for more than two months, completing what manager Marcy Lang called an upscale "reincarnation" of the property.

The renovations included, among other improvements, the installation of a new fire suppression system, but Barletta said it was unclear whether the system "engaged" during the course of Thursday's kitchen blaze.