TYNECASTLE — Multiple fire agencies reported at around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, to the scene of a fire at the Pedalin’ Pig Restaurant, located on the 4000 block of NC-105, near the Shoppes at Tynecastle.
According to Avery County Fire Marshal Paul Buchanan, a fire truck was on scene in the parking lot within approximately six minutes after receiving paging from Avery Communications.
“Luckily it was a good time of day as far as the business was concerned, without a large number of patrons in the restaurant,” Buchanan explained regarding the fire. “There was not a lot of activity in the parking lot, so we were able to mobilize inside the parking lot and did not have to shut down the highway to respond.”
When fire personnel arrived, they encountered a fire in a portion of the kitchen which houses a smoker the restaurant utilizes for smoking ribs, turkey and other meats.
“What we had ended up as a kitchen fire at the smoker, which is a very large appliance,” Buchanan added. “Something malfunctioned around the exhaust part of the appliance, basically causing a breakdown of the exhaust port. It was a scenario much like we find with a chimney fire. The fire actually got between the roof of the kitchen area itself. That equipment receives a recurring inspection, but there wasn’t anything missed per se. It was simply a malfunction in the system that resembled a flue fire, such as what we might see in a fireplace.”
The restaurant’s kitchen area sustained structural, smoke and water damage, while the dining area was quickly evacuated and much of the damage was contained to the specific kitchen area.
“We had some fire damage structurally, as well as water damage from where we had to put the fire out. Basically it was confined to the additional area of the kitchen itself where the smoker was located and not in the dining area, with the exception of a little smoke getting into the dining area,” Buchanan added. “We were able to evacuate everyone from the dining area pretty quickly as far as smoke inside. Hopefully there won’t be any long-lasting effects of smoke in the dining area, but it will probably have them shut down for an extended period.”
Although damage was minimized, the restaurant is temporarily closed in the aftermath of the incident.
“They’ll have to get permits and such to fix the damage, but it could have been a lot worse,” Buchanan said. “We threw a lot of firefighters at it, and we had a good result at being able to contain the fire to the kitchen itself. Once we had everybody on scene, we had the fire controlled in around 30 minutes.”
The quick action and abilities of local fire officials and personnel played a pivotal role and preventing additional damage to the eatery.
“We actually used very minimal water on the scene. Our firefighters were able to put water where we needed to, and we didn’t have to use a lot of resources as far as shuttling water back and forth. All the water was used on scene and we didn’t have to move trucks off scene, either,” Buchanan added.
Seven Devils Fire Department served as the primary agency on scene, and received support from additional respondents Avery County Emergency Management, Linville Fire Department, Banner Elk Volunteer Fire and Rescue, Avery Ladder Truck Company, Avery EMS and Linville-Central Rescue, with additional assistance from Watauga County Fire Marshal’s Office.
“We had fire trucks in a matter of minutes. The incident occurred right at quitting for some of our fire department personnel, but we had personnel sitting at Banner Elk Fire station and Linville fire station as well, so quick action on getting the fire trucks there as quickly as personnel was crucial. I can’t say enough about the personnel who were on scene and their ability to put water where it was needed and extinguish the fire as quickly as possible.”
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