"It was a stubborn fire," John Lee, the fire prevention officer with Windsor Fire and Rescue Services, told Black burnNews.com after flames broke out at a local restaurant early Thursday morning.
Firefighters arrived to douse the flames at Wineology on Wyandotte Street East between Windemere Road and Gladstone Avenue just after 2 a.m.
Photo of a fire on Wyandotte Street East February 20, 2020 (Photo by Adelle Loiselle)
Wyandotte in that stretch was closed but reopened in time for the morning commute by 7 a.m.
"They started fighting it from the interior, but when it started to penetrate the roof, they switched to an exterior attack," explained Lee. "They were concerned about roof collapse."
The roof in the back of the building did collapse, and damage inside the restaurant is extensive, and the estimate is $700,000 for structural and content damage.
"There's a lot of expensive furnishings and tables," said Lee.
Photo of a fire on Wyandotte Street East February 20, 2020 (Photo by Adelle Loiselle)
A two-storey building next door to Wineology suffered some minor smoke damage.
Investigators said the accidental fire started in the kitchen hood exhaust system.
Although Lee said the cold temperatures Thursday morning meant officials had to rotate the fire crews more often than usual, no one was hurt.
