"Ironically, it was scheduled to be cleaned today,"

Fire damages Shalimar Restaurant in Woodbridge
by Ryan Hutchins/For The Star-Ledger
Monday August 31, 2009, 12:50 PM
WOODBRIDGE -- A fire that heavily damaged the Shalimar Restaurant on Oak Tree Road in the Iselin section of Woodbridge this morning started in a ventilation system that was scheduled to be cleaned today, authorities said.

The blazed charred the wall behind a cooking area and reached into an apartment on the second floor of the building, located in the 1300 block, according to police Lt. T homas Gennarelli, a department spokesman. Initial reports indicated the building was destroyed, but fire damage was not as bad as originally thought, he said.

The flames started as a grease fire in a ventilation hood that covered a cooking area.

"Ironically, it was scheduled to be cleaned today," Gennarelli said. "In fact, the people that were going to clean the hood showed up today as the fire was going."

The fire started around 10:15 a.m. and required the efforts of two Iselin fire companies to extinguish. A portion of Oak Tree Road was closed this morning, but has since reopened.

No one was injured, and there was no damage to adjacent buildings, Gennarelli said.