By John King and Jaxon Van Derbeken
The San Francisco Chronicle
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco’s historic Tadich Grill could reopen as soon as today after a two-alarm stove fire was quickly extinguished Monday, officials said.
The blaze at 240 California St. was reported at 11:21 a.m. The fire originated from a wood-burning stove and flames went up a flue, sending a cloud of smoke into the sky, Deputy Fire Chief Pat Gardner said.
About three dozen firefighters responded in 13 trucks to control the blaze. The fire caused an estimated $160,000 in damage, mostly from firefighters removing part of the ceiling to fight the blaze. They managed to confine the fire to the flue.
No injuries were reported.
Gardner described the blaze as a “typical flue fire.”
“The damage isn’t severe enough to keep it out of operation for long,” he said, adding that restaurant managers had indicated the establishment could reopen today. “That’s up to them,” Gardner said.
He said fire inspectors check every six months to assure that grease does not accumulate in flues. He said Tadich had passed inspection within the past few months.
Established in 1849, Tadich is San Francisco’s oldest restaurant and one of the city’s oldest businesses.
Asked what had been cooking when the fire started, Gardner said, “I don’t know. It was ashes by the time we got there.”
Firefighters respond to a blaze that broke out in the kitchen of the historic Tadich Grill.
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