Perrysburg Fire Division crews received mutual aid from Perrysburg Township, Middleton Township, Maumee and Rossford fire departments in battling a kitchen fire at Benchmark Restaurant at Levis Commons Wednesday morning.
PERRYSBURG — A Wednesday morning kitchen fire at Benchmark Restaurant also affected two other neighboring businesses and a restaurant.
Benchmark employees reported a fire in the kitchen at the Town Center at Levis Commons at 9:05 a.m. When fire crews arrived, smoke could be seen coming out of the roof, said Perrysburg Fire Chief Tom Granata.
No one was injured.
“There was very little fire damage to the building. It was mostly contained to the hood system in Benchmark, and to the roof. The rest of it is water damage,“ Granata said.
Benchmark employees activated the hood suppression system and exited the building.
The first arriving Perrysburg firefighters went inside the restaurant and extinguished the fire, Granata said. They were able to put water on the fire with master streams until ladder trucks from Perrysburg and Maumee arrived. Perrysburg Township, Middleton Township and Rossford fire departments also responded.
“We entered the scene for a possible structure fire. Employees stated that they had food on the grill that flamed up,” Granata said.
When Perrysburg firefighters arrived, they put the fire out, but the fire had made it into the hood system and to the roof, he said.
“When our ladder truck arrived, the one with the bucket on it, that was the third one to arrive. So our guys were operating on the roof, but they did not use hand lines,” Granata said. “Our crews made quick entry to fight the fire.”
Most of the damage to Benchmark was from smoke and water.
Three other businesses also sustained damages.
Basil Pizza and Wine Bar had water damage.
Satelytics, a third floor business, and Morgan Stanley, a second floor business, also sustained extensive water damage.
Granata said that the two restaurants and two businesses are closed. Employees at Morgan Stanley were retrieving equipment and setting up remote office locations.
“The business on the third floor had the most water damage, because, obviously, the water coming through the roof affected them first,” Granata said. “The NAI Harmon Group, the building manager for that building at the Levis Commons complex, is going to bring in maintenance crews, evacuating water and doing mop-up operations.”
