Crews battle structure fire at China Gourmet restaurant
CENTER TWP — Firefighters put out a large structure fire that was coming up through the roof of China Gourmet restaurant along Route 8 in Center Township on Tuesday night, Dec. 3.
Butler, Butler Township and Unionville fire crews responded to calls around 7:15 p.m. of a fire that was visible from the roof of the restaurant at 1700 N. Main St.
No one was injured.
With the nearest hydrant outside R.W. McDonald & Sons home appliance store across the street, firefighters and police officers shut off Route 8 in the immediate vicinity of the fire, with hoses crossing the road.
By 7:30 p.m., firefighters were setting up roof operations on the left side of the building, where smoke and flames were coming up through the roof. They were able to walk in and out of the building shortly after 8 p.m. when the main level and basement were clear, and roof crews started coming down.
“I talked to the owners, they said they were cooking up until about a half-hour beforehand,” Unionville Volunteer Fire Company chief Mike Pflugh said. “When we arrived, we started to get some smoke coming out of the building and some flames coming out of both of the vent systems and inside of the ceiling in the kitchen area.”
He said crews cut off gas and electric service to the building.
The inside of the restaurant is damaged but “fairly OK,” according to Pflugh, with damage mostly around the kitchen area and the ceilings.
A main issue for the firefighters was putting out the section of the fire that got into the restaurant’s vents.
“It got up into the ceiling, and it got up into the ventilation system through the hood vents above the stoves,” Pflugh said.
He said the fire marshal most likely will stop by the location Wednesday morning to further determine the exact cause of the fire.
Pflugh said the fire departments were able to respond quickly and did a great job “knocking it down.”
By 8:20 p.m., when the departments had shut down water supply from hydrants and units were all clear, they requested a PennDOT salt truck to come through the closed of section of Route 8 to prevent icing due to the amount of water on the road.
