Grant
Administrator
Grease fire chars Castle Luncheonette
By: JOSEPH B. NADEAU, Staff Writer
06/18/2006
WOONSOCKET - The Castle Luncheonette, a popular lunch and dinner stop on Social Street, is temporarily closed after a fire heavily damaged the business' kitchen Saturday morning.
The blaze, believed to have started in a fryolator ventilation system, forced a small group of customers and employees from the well-known brick building as the fire broke out at about 11:30 a.m.
The restaurant opens up at 11 a.m. and the owner, Diane Frenette of Burrillville, said she heard the alarm for the fryolator fire protection system go off and then the sound of the system activating in the ventilation duct.
"We knew something was wrong and I told everyone to get out and called the fire department right away," she said.
About five to six customers had come into the restaurant, and Frenette was working with her daughter, Jessie, and four to five other employees as they handled called in orders.
By the time Frenette went to leave, smoke was beginning to fill the kitchen area, she said.
The fire quickly built from that point and firefighters arriving on scene found flames erupting from the back wall of the kitchen where the fryolators were located as they arrived on scene, according to Deputy Chief Marcel Bacon and Capt. David Beaubien, a city fire marshal.
The initial investigation shows that the fire had started in the ventilation duct, Beaubien said. A further check by the State Fire Marshal's Office determined the cause to be accumulated grease catching fire in the ducting, according to Bacon.
The burning grease apparently fell down into the fryolators, causing the fire to spread in the kitchen area, the firefighters said.
The first crews on scene fought the fire from the front windows and then made an entry into the side dining area and fought the kitchen fire from there.
Bacon said the responding fire crews were able to knock down the main portion of the fire within 10 minutes and then checked for extension into the ducting through the roof area.
The roof was not extensively damaged and the fire appeared to have been contained in the ducting, according Beaubien and Bacon.
"Everyone in the restaurant made their exit prior to our arrival," Bacon said while noting no one had been hurt in the incident.
The Castle has been in business on Social Street since the 1950s and is located next to the city's Gerard J. Bouley Softball Field.
Frenette, who has owned the business for 20 years, bought it from its former owner after working at the restaurant for about eight years, she said.
Yesterday, her father, Robert Fernandes, and several other members of her family were there at the restaurant as she began to check out the damage.
"She works so hard," her father said. "You wouldn't believe how hard she works here."
Her brothers Gary Fernandes and Robert Fernandes Jr., were already looking at what needed to be done to get their sister's business reopened.
The kitchen area was heavily damaged and charred by the fire but Gary said it appeared to be fixable.
The rest of the restaurant appeared spared fire damaged but there were signs of heat and some damage in the area nearest the kitchen.
Luckily for Frenette, the family business is property rehabilitation. "We fix everything," Gary Fernandes said. "That's all we do."
By: JOSEPH B. NADEAU, Staff Writer
06/18/2006
WOONSOCKET - The Castle Luncheonette, a popular lunch and dinner stop on Social Street, is temporarily closed after a fire heavily damaged the business' kitchen Saturday morning.
The blaze, believed to have started in a fryolator ventilation system, forced a small group of customers and employees from the well-known brick building as the fire broke out at about 11:30 a.m.
The restaurant opens up at 11 a.m. and the owner, Diane Frenette of Burrillville, said she heard the alarm for the fryolator fire protection system go off and then the sound of the system activating in the ventilation duct.
"We knew something was wrong and I told everyone to get out and called the fire department right away," she said.
About five to six customers had come into the restaurant, and Frenette was working with her daughter, Jessie, and four to five other employees as they handled called in orders.
By the time Frenette went to leave, smoke was beginning to fill the kitchen area, she said.
The fire quickly built from that point and firefighters arriving on scene found flames erupting from the back wall of the kitchen where the fryolators were located as they arrived on scene, according to Deputy Chief Marcel Bacon and Capt. David Beaubien, a city fire marshal.
The initial investigation shows that the fire had started in the ventilation duct, Beaubien said. A further check by the State Fire Marshal's Office determined the cause to be accumulated grease catching fire in the ducting, according to Bacon.
The burning grease apparently fell down into the fryolators, causing the fire to spread in the kitchen area, the firefighters said.
The first crews on scene fought the fire from the front windows and then made an entry into the side dining area and fought the kitchen fire from there.
Bacon said the responding fire crews were able to knock down the main portion of the fire within 10 minutes and then checked for extension into the ducting through the roof area.
The roof was not extensively damaged and the fire appeared to have been contained in the ducting, according Beaubien and Bacon.
"Everyone in the restaurant made their exit prior to our arrival," Bacon said while noting no one had been hurt in the incident.
The Castle has been in business on Social Street since the 1950s and is located next to the city's Gerard J. Bouley Softball Field.
Frenette, who has owned the business for 20 years, bought it from its former owner after working at the restaurant for about eight years, she said.
Yesterday, her father, Robert Fernandes, and several other members of her family were there at the restaurant as she began to check out the damage.
"She works so hard," her father said. "You wouldn't believe how hard she works here."
Her brothers Gary Fernandes and Robert Fernandes Jr., were already looking at what needed to be done to get their sister's business reopened.
The kitchen area was heavily damaged and charred by the fire but Gary said it appeared to be fixable.
The rest of the restaurant appeared spared fire damaged but there were signs of heat and some damage in the area nearest the kitchen.
Luckily for Frenette, the family business is property rehabilitation. "We fix everything," Gary Fernandes said. "That's all we do."