Employee responds quickly, puts out fire at the Palace Cafe

Home City News Employee responds quickly, puts out fire at the Palace Cafe
Employee responds quickly, puts out fire at the Palace Cafe

A fire at the Palace Cafe on Friday night led to a customer evacuation.

The Palace Cafe. Facebook

The Hillsdale Fire Department responded to a call at 9:25 p.m., reporting a stove fire at the Palace.

A team of 12 firefighters arrived on the scene, but the fire had already been extinguished by employee Jason DeVaughn and patron Dan Brunette, and the restaurant already evacuated. The Fire Department said they believe the fire was caused by a malfunction of the gas stove. The fire was contained in the kitchen, however, and put out before it was able to spread, leaving no injuries and no serious damage to the building.

“It wasn’t even large enough to set off our fire suppression unit,” said owner Leslie Meredith, who had planned to be out of the restaurant on Friday night to prepare for her daughter’s wedding the next day. “I pulled into the parking lot and saw smoke coming out the door.”

It was DeVaughn and Brunette’s immediate action that kept the situation under control. Firefighter Corey Burke commended the men for their timely and effective response.

“Thankfully for the fast acting employee, they saved the building from major, major damage,” Burke said in a phone interview.

Despite the fact that DeVaughn had his back to the fire, he quickly assessed and resolved the issue.

“First we tried seeing if we turned off the gas, if the fire would go out,” DeVaughn said. “But it didn’t. We used the fire extinguisher after that.”

The restaurant was closed for the remainder of the evening, both to ensure that the building was safe and to replace the food contaminated by the extinguisher.

The Palace opened at its regular time the next morning.

Meredith stressed that every measure has been taken to ensure the safety of the restaurant in the wake of the accident.

“Michigan Gas rechecked everything, new lines were put in, and the state health inspector was in,” Meredith said.

Burke emphasized the Palace’s commitment to safety in the wake of the incident, and in everyday circumstances as well. The high standard of safety, combined with DeVaughn and Brunette’s efforts, saved the restaurant, he said.

“The Palace did a great job of having every preventive measure in case they were to have a kitchen fire like that,” Burke said. “We are very grateful that they had a plan and were able to work fast.”