By Bruce Karnick

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Structural fires can be very scary, especially when you are inside a restaurant either working or dining. July 23rd around 1:30 pm, the folks inside Perkins experienced that firsthand. Thanks to the quick response by the Hastings Fire Department, not only was the damage very limited, but Perkins was able to return to business fairly quickly that afternoon.

Chief John Townsend explains the call, “We got a call of a dumpster fire at Perkins, and when we got here, we had a dumpster that was engulfed in flames and extending up to the roof of the restaurant. So, crews pulled some attack lines, extinguished the fire, checked to see if the fire went anywhere else, ventilated out the structure and put the fire out.”

Chief Townsend continued to explain that no one was injured, the fire did stay outside the restaurant and because of the close proximity to the fire department, crews were on scene within five minutes of the 911 call.

No official cause for the fire has been documented yet and no damage estimates were available.

Hastings Fire Department’s quick response on Rivertown Days Saturday prevented damage to Hastings Perkins from a fire that started in the cardboard dumpster. Photo by Bruce Karnick