By Bruce Karnick

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Perkins of Hastings suffered a second fire in 23 days, this one much more devastating than the dumpster fire during Rivertown Days. The fire is estimated to have started sometime between midnight and 1:00 a.m. Tuesday August 3, when the restaurant was closed, and no one was there. Thankfully, that also means, no one was injured. Details of the fire were still under investigation. Looking at the exterior of the building, you can see they had not been able to repair the damage from the July 17 fire that charred the soffit and side of the building near the dumpster. Further up the roof, you can see a little of the damage from the new fire at the exhaust vent.

According to Assistant Manager Becca Caneff, “this time there was much more damage.”

In following up with Caneff, she indicated that a majority of the inside of the restaurant was affected in some way, but she could not go into details. Keep in mind, one of the biggest factors for damage when it comes to fires is not always the fire portion. Smoke and water damage can be just as devastating as the fire damage, so even if the physical burning aspect was limited to say a bedroom in a home, the smoke could damage the rest of the house. Again, at this time, the extent of the damage and what portions of the restaurant that were affected is unknown.

General Manager Chris Kennedy was outside talking to a few members of the staff. The plan right now is assessment of the damage and to get the word out that they are closed for the time being. Banners are being made for the sides and front of the store to alert people they are closed. Once they know what the reopening plan is, he will let members of the media know and we will help get the word out. They will also get banners up for that.

While the staff is obviously upset at the damage, they are happy that no one was injured, and they seemed confident that Perkins will continue in Hastings. There are many questions to answer in the meantime, primarily when and how, but that should shake out in the next few weeks. They did want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone that has been coming in supporting them the last few months saying how nice it has been seeing everyone and simply being busy.

Chief John Townsend gave us brief recap of the event. “We got a call just past midnight last night. Crews responded to Perkins and found smoke in the building and smoke and fire coming out of the kitchen hood vents on the roof. We went in and encountered smoke and fire in the kitchen. Crews extinguish the fire and put the fire out. The building does have damage to the attic space, the roof, and of course the kitchen has damaged as well. We were assisted by Cottage Grove fire, Prescott fire, Miesville Fire, and Allina ambulance during the fire last night. We were on the scene for about four hours.”

Perkins of Hastings suffered a second fire, this time, it was inside the building. The roof near one of the exhaust vents was damaged as can be seen in this picture which not a good indication for limited damage. Thankfully, no one was hurt.