Fire confined to small area, but damages estimated at
$150,000
By James M. Mohs Chief Photographer
Gilroy – A slow-moving, elusive fire caused $150,000 damage to Tassos’ Old House Restaurant early Thursday morning, although the fire was initially confined to a small interior area.
Smoke was reported seen coming from the eves of the two-story First Street restaurant at 11:51pm Wednesday.
“I’m just glad nobody got hurt,” said Mary Perakis Thursday afternoon as she and her husband Tassos looked over the damage to the restaurant that they have owned for 12 years. The many tables still set for dining, with napkins neatly folded inside water glasses, were covered with ash in the upstairs dining area where the fire started. The fire spread up a wall into a heating duct, igniting the older redwood fiber insulation in the ceiling.
The Perakis’ were on their way home after closing the restaurant late Wednesday night when they received a call from the Gilroy Fire Department that they were battling a fire in their restaurant that eventually went to three alarms.
Nearly 40 firefighters, four chief officers with seven fire engines and a rescue unit came from agencies including Gilroy Fire Department, South Santa Clara County Fire/CDF, Santa Clara County Fire and a ladder truck from San Jose Fire Department. They spent more than three hours finding and extinguishing the smoldering insulation that poured black smoke from the 89-year-old building. Upon arrival of the first fire engine and initial attack, firefighters found the second floor filled with black smoke and zero visibility. Spots of insulation were still burning more than 2 1/2 hours later.
Initially tough to locate, once the smoke was ventilated by firefighters breaking out second floor windows and cutting holes in the roof, they discovered the origin smoldering, but the fire had spread into the wall and ceiling.
“It was a small, but difficult time-consuming, labor-intensive fire,” said Gilroy Fire Division Chief Clay Bentson. “We had to keep most resources on scene until we were sure we had got to the seed of the fire.”
Deep charring found on diagonal studs inside the walls helped obstruct the fire from quickly spreading through vertical channels in the walls. That combined with a quick response by fire crews kept the fire from consuming the 5,000-square-foot structure, according to Gilroy Deputy Fire Marshal Rodger Maggio.
Classified as an “unintentional” electrical fire caused by a failure in a power supply cord to a small bar unit, the structure’s older lath, chicken wire and plaster walls and ceiling made access to the fire very difficult. The initial fire that eventually burned itself out was confined to a 10-foot-long, by 6-foot-wide area, according to Gilroy Fire Investigator Andy Holiday.
The structure has seen many uses over it’s long history, first as a mortuary in the mid-1900s and then other uses including a Lutheran church, an ice cream parlor and a restaurant.
“There was very good communication between the agencies, fire operations went very smoothly and safely with no firefighters or civilians injured,” said Gilroy Fire Chief Dale Foster as fire resources began to be released about 3:30am.
The Perakis’ plan to reopen after repairs are made.
James M. Mohs is Chief Photographer for the Dispatch. He can be reached at 847-7140, or at [email protected].
