Grease Fire

Crews respond to grease fire at West Virginia Polo Club
June 1, 2011
By NATALEE SEELY (nseely@newsandsentinel.com) , Parkersburg News and Sentinel
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PARKERSBURG - A few dozen customers were safely escorted out of the West Virginia Polo Club Tuesday evening after a grease fire began in the kitchen of the restaurant.

Parkersburg Fire Department and Waverly Volunteer Fire Department responded to the restaurant at Depot and East streets around 7:45 p.m., said Lt. Melvin Turner with the Parkersburg Fire Department.

"It started as a grease fire. The kitchen staff tried to put it out with an extinguisher to no avail," said Turner. "It grew rather rapidly, and melted everything in the entire restaurant that was plastic."

The fire was contained to the kitchen, but the main dining room sustained major smoke damage.

"The restaurant is completely black with soot," said Turner. "I would say it's going to be a while before it reopens."

Investigators estimated the restaurant sustained around $150,000 in damage.

Crews extinguished the fire in under 30 minutes.

With temperatures in the 90s, Turner called in the Waverly Volunteer Fire Department's rehab trailer.

"We wanted the rehab unit here, just as a precautionary measure. With the extreme heat we've been dealing with, we wanted the unit on hand in case any of the crew got overheated," Turner said.

The rehab unit is equipped with cooling vests, fluids and an area where firefighters can rest and have their vitals monitored. An ambulance was on the scene in case of emergencies.

Crews were on the scene until after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday to look for hot spots and flare-ups.

Depot Street and East Street were blocked off near the restaurant until around 10 p.m.

Several customers and employees stood outside the restaurant as crews inspected the property.

Bartender Lindsey Miller said there were around 30 people inside the restaurant at the time of the fire.

"It happened near a deep fryer. Someone called 911 and they told us to get everyone outside the restaurant," said Miller. "I didn't see any flames, just a lot of smoke."

Tammy Reed, manager of the West Virginia Polo Club, said she was not working Tuesday night, but drove to the restaurant when she heard about the fire on Facebook, a social networking website.

"We've been told it began in the kitchen," Reed said. "It's only been about a year since the last fire we had here."

In March 2010, a fire that destroyed a dining room addition to the restaurant was ruled an arson by investigators. The Sunday morning fire caused around $30,000 in damages.