Is the Reef on Fire?

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Is the Reef on Fire?

Submitted by rainy gray on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 8:35am.

I just saw a breaking news story that the Reef is on fire here. I'm stuck at work so I can't go check it out. Anybody downtown? Is it true? How bad is it?

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Just drove by.

Submitted by FRESH on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 9:35am.

It looks destroyed. Rumor has it that it was a grease fire that started when water shorted out an electrical component.

From the Oly Comments section

Submitted by Laurian on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 9:41am.

It was a kitchen fire, burned hot and fast, through to the roof. Fire is out but there's a lot of smoke and water damage. Restaurant was open at the time, everyone got out through the doors except one dude. They had to break the front plate glass window to rescue him. This is Clark Kent reporting from downtown Olympia. hank | 11.12.08 - 9:33 am

Bummer, man.

Submitted by rainy gray on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 9:49am.

I love that place.

I drove past and there were

Submitted by sophielou on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 12:18pm.

I drove past and there were firetrucks and people hugging each other outside. I hope the damage isn't too extensive- I love that place. I guess it's time to start looking for the second best tuna melt in town.

The Olympian was actually timely on this one

Submitted by Logarithm on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 2:03pm.

From the Olympian:

OLYMPIA – A kitchen fire started about 7:15 a.m. today at the downtown King Solomon's Reef, filling the restaurant with smoke and causing firefighters to punch at least one hole in the roof as they put out the blaze.

One customer who was in a bathroom when the kitchen fire started missed the initial evacuation of staff and was briefly trapped in the restaurant, Olympia Assistant Fire Chief Greg Wright said. Wright said it’s possible the man could not find his way out because the thick smoke spread quickly throughout the restaurant, limiting visibility.

Please just post a snip from other websites.

Submitted by Rick on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 2:49pm.

It's good blog etiquette.

Beware the terrible simplifiers.
Jacob Burckhardt

It might not be TOO bad...

Submitted by toadlily on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 5:37pm.

I walked by about noon. The building had already been green-tagged by the building inspectors. That's good news. It means that (a) there wasn't critical structural damage or suspicion of a crime and (b) they can get in to repair & clean up immediately. Still, smoke damage and water damage are ugly things to clean up. There's a lot of work to do.

Thanks, toadlily

Submitted by jlw on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 6:13pm.

That's good news.

Good?

Submitted by monkilo on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 6:19pm.

I got to walk through right after the fire and it looks pretty bad. Everything looks pretty good from the outside but once you go in it starts to look pretty rough. The kitchen is demolished and the bar and front are covered with ash, smoke, and water. Things might work out but the staff isn't too optimistic at this point. It was initially a grease fire that got out of control but when they pulled the lever to operate the fire suppression system it failed. At that point the employees didn't really have much choice but to watch it burn. R.I.P. Reef.

Sorry

Submitted by jlw on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 9:48am.

That's terrible news.

send your support and love

Submitted by circular_ruins on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 6:27pm.

send your support and love to: long.live.the.reef@gmail.com

"The Reef...the Reef...the

Submitted by Matthew Green on Wed, 11/12/2008 - 10:56pm.

"The Reef...the Reef...the Reef is on fire!"

Sorry. Had to do it.

Everybody eat at Old School Pizza for a while, to help out the Reef's owners.

... and because they make

Submitted by zeet on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 10:47am.

... and because they make delicious pizza. Seriously, I hope they get back soon. Nothing about the Reef was perfect, but the combination of all that is what made it Just Right. This is also a reminder to us all: have a kitchen fire extinguisher! Grease fires can get out of control very, very quickly.

Reef

Submitted by Bert on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 10:44am.

The garden burger and fries. The reef will be missed.

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