The lesson to be learned here is ALWAYS watch your brisket.
Fire destroys restaurant
A firefighter is injured in the fire and the fire chief says the
building was destroyed.
01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, May 23, 2006
BY TOM MOONEY
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- A fire that started inside a restaurant formerly known as
Downcity Diner gutted a three-story brick building on Weybosset Street
yesterday and stubbornly burned throughout the day as fear of collapse
forced firefighters to fight the blaze from the outside.
A Fire Department spokeswoman last night said demolition crews were
working to take down what was left of the building.
The three-alarm fire, which started about 6:30 a.m. in the kitchen, sent
acrid yellow smoke billowing into the morning air and clogged the street
with fire trucks and hoses just one block south from where crews filming
the movie Underdog had forced the closing of Westminster Street.
Several early passersby thought the fire was actually part of the movie,
said security guard Charles Gauthier.
Abby Cabral, one of the owners of the eatery at 151 Weybosset St. now
known as Downcity Food and Cocktails, said a chef was cooking a brisket
for a catering job when the meat apparently caught fire. Flames moved
behind the walls and spread through the timbers of the mid-1800s
building. The third floor housed a dance studio but the second floor was
vacant. No one else was in the building at the time.
By noon, the fire had flared up several times and burned through the
roof while firefighters in two aerial ladder trucks continued pouring
thousands of gallons of water onto the building.
Providence Fire Chief David Costa said a few firefighters had been
hospitalized, one with a strained back and three for observation for
"various ailments."
A partial collapse of the second floor prevented firefighters from
entering the building to fight the fire up close.
"The whole building is going to end up being a total loss," Costa said.
The fire drew dozens of onlookers throughout the day, including Rico
Conforti, another owner of Downcity Food and Cocktails, who along with
Cabral bought the restaurant about a year ago.
"We've had everything happen to us in the first year," said Conforti, as
he watched firefighters wrestle to keep a live hose pointed on the front
door. "We've been broken into, had a water main break and now this. If
we can get through this, what else is there?"
Conforti said the business was insured and he and Cabral will look for a
place to relocate.
"We won't be able to stay here," he said. "There's more than six feet of
water in the basement."
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