(The following article by Evan Goodenow was posted on the Sandusky Register website on April 4.)
SANDUSKY, Ohio — Seconds can add up to life or death in firefighting, so the train crossing delay in responding to a Sunday restaurant fire was frustrating for firefighters.
“I talked to one of the engine officers who said it was probably a couple of minutes, but it seemed like an eternity,” said Paul E. Ricci, fire battalion chief. “We had trains blocking Venice Road and trains blocking Huron Street.”
No one was hurt in the fire at Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips at 3124 Venice Road, which was called in at 11:02 a.m., but the restaurant sustained approximately $225,000 in damage. Ricci said on average, property damage from a fire doubles for every minute it burns.
Firefighters from Station 7, at 3816 Venice Road, arrived about a minute after the call, but their colleagues from Station 1 at 300 W. Market St. were diverted to Huron Street where they were then delayed by a train there. Ricci said firefighters from Station 3 at 2034 Fifth St. were also delayed.
A $10 million overpass that will prevent delays like the one Sunday is scheduled to be built in 2009 on Venice Road, said Josh R. Snyder, Sandusky traffic engineer.
“That issue is so important to us because events like this occur more frequently than we would like,” Riccci said.
The restaurant, which opened in March of 2004, had just opened for business and two employees had started the fryers when they noticed heavy smoke coming from the rear of the kitchen, Ricci said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but the report on it by Tamie S. Myers, fire battalion chief, lists a gas-powered frialator as being
involved in the ignition.
Ricci said building owners John and Richard Ardner updated their fire prevention equipment about two years ago and have done a good job of maintaining the building. John Ardner, who employed about six workers at the restaurant, said he is unsure if the restaurant will re-open.
“I’m not happy about it,” John Ardner said when asked about the delay. “I wish my restaurant was still there.”
A fish-fry, with proceeds going to help rebuild the restaurant, will be from 11 a.m. -7 p.m. Friday at the Knights of Columbus at 614 Columbus Ave.