Fire forces restaurant evacuation

 

Date of incident: August 22, 2005
Published in the Trenton Times, http://www.nj.com Story By MICHAEL RATCLIFFE
 

HAMILTON - Patrons and staff were evacuated last night after a small fire sent smoke throughout the Chili's Grill & Bar at Hamilton Marketplace.
While the blaze charred only a very small area of an exterior wall, the eatery was forced to close for the night because of smoke contamination.
An inspector from the township's health department was on the scene last night supervising the cleanup.
The fire - probably ignited by a carelessly-tossed cigarette - started in some mulch next to the "Chili's To Go" take-out entrance on the left side of the restaurant, said Aaron Heller, Groveville Fire Co. acting chief.
The fire spread from the mulch to an adjacent wall and started to burn the wooden framing behind the building's stone facade. Smoke was sucked in by the ventilation system and distributed throughout the building.
Firefighters were summoned to the shopping center along Route 130 about 6:35 p.m. They found the inside of the Chili's rapidly filling with smoke and ordered all patrons and staff to leave.
Some of the displaced patrons stood outside and watched the firefighters work, while others got in their cars and left.
Thinking the smoke might be coming from a problem with the ventilation system, firefighters put up several ladders and climbed to the roof.
Joining Groveville firefighters were crews from Nottingham, White Horse, Washington Township and Allentown fire companies.
Part of Marketplace Boulevard was closed to traffic for about an hour so a hose laid in the lanes of travel could supply water from a distant hydrant to fire trucks at the restaurant.
Once the ventilation system was turned off and no problems found, firefighters found a small area of mulch smoldering and realized the fire was burning in the wall behind the facade, Heller said.
He said the blaze was quickly extinguished and actual fire damage was confined to an area of a square foot or two.