Fire in restaurant's kitchen sends clientele scurrying

An early evening fire created a scare at a downtown Cape Girardeau restaurant Monday but was stopped before any serious damage could occur.

At around 6:30 p.m., Cape Girardeau firefighters responded to the Buckner Brewing Co after reports of a fire in the kitchen area. The blaze started in the vent above Buckner's grill and caused fire damage in the kitchen exhaust along with minimal smoke damage throughout the building, said assistant fire chief Mark Hasheider.

Cook Casey Mills was in the kitchen when the fire started. He said the fire first caught one part of the vent on fire, then spread throughout the exhaust system.

Employees at the restaurant then called the fire department and evacuated the building, said Mills.

"There were people running out with plates and sodas," Mills said.

James Lumos and his friends were filming a documentary for a university film class just down the street when the fire started.

"There were flames shooting over the sides," said Lumos. "It looked like the roof would catch on fire. We thought the whole thing was going to go up so we started filming and set up a mic."

Sprinklers in the kitchen area helped prevent the blaze from spreading more, said fire officials. Firefighters were able to put the fire out quickly, minimizing the damage.

An official cause of the fire hasn't yet been determined. There were no injuries resulting from the incident.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182