McCall's faces third fire
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on March 4, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
McCall's Bar-B-Q and Seafood will be closed for at least three to four weeks after a dryer fire Sunday night caused extensive damage to the restaurant.
McCall's Bar-B-Q and Seafood at 139 Millers Chapel Road will be closed for at least three to four weeks after a dryer fire Sunday night caused extensive damage to the restaurant, owner Randy McCall said.
Employees reported to the restaurant Sunday to begin preparing Sunday dinner when it was discovered a dryer had caught on fire overnight.
An overhead PVC water pipe running to the washer was melted during the fire, causing water to gush from the pipe and extinguish the fire by the time Goldsboro Fire Department arrived on scene just before 6:30 p.m. Sunday, said Assistant Fire Chief James Farfour, who was part of the crew that responded to the fire.
"We were called to the scene by people arriving to prepare Sunday dinner," Farfour said. "There was smoke damage and residual fire damage on the food preparation areas and when we got there employees were already cleaning up and contacting the health department to see when they could open back up."
It is not known exactly when the dryer caught fire, but the electrical breaker running to the dryer cut the appliance off when the unit caught fire, the fire report said.
"We thought we would only need to close for a few days, and we didn't know it would be such a big deal," McCall said. "We had to clean everything up and then realized we had to take the ceilings out and replace the carpet because the smoke damage was so extensive. When the crew came in to do cleanup, we realized just how bad the damage was."
The fire caused an estimated $4,000 in total damages, the fire report said.
McCall said the restaurant plans to keep employees paid to the "best of their ability" and get back to normal operations as soon as possible, McCall said.
This marks the third fire at McCall's Bar-B-Q and Seafood since late February.
The first fire on Feb. 22 started in the restaurant's smoke pit, causing more than $10,000 in damages to the restaurant's barbecue pits but leaving the restaurant itself unscathed.
The second fire on Feb. 23 was deemed "suspicious" by the Goldsboro Police Department, and occurred in the outbuilding behind the restaurant, starting in the barbecue pits and spreading through the roof, also causing more than $10,000 in damage.
According to the fire report on the incident, two to three bags of charcoal had been placed in the corner of the outbuilding and were intentionally set on fire.
The investigation into the Feb. 23 fire is listed as inactive by the Goldsboro Police Department.