Fire ignites at Austin business

Published 5:21 pm Thursday, June 16, 2011

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A small fire broke out of the second store floor of the Restaurant Warehouse on 10th Street NE. shortly before noon Thursday.

Embers sparked after Halloween decorations, which included small hay bales, caught fire.

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Bob and Lisa Nelson, along with their children, were at the Warehouse working when Lisa, answering phones at the Home Cooking Store, smelled smoke at around 11:55 a.m. Warehouse employees Chad Corporon and Sean Nelson checked the second floor, where they saw embers floating up from a corner of the storage area which contains Christmas, Halloween and home decorations, as well as kitchen appliances and other goods. When they used a fire extinguisher, the second floor quickly filled with smoke, according to Bob.

“It was so black, you couldn’t see anything,” he said.

Lisa called 911 around noon.

After 20 minutes, firefighters pulled the Halloween decorations out. They were visibly blackened and smoldering on several sides.

The cause of the fire is unknown, although Bob suspected it could have been electrical, since a circuit braker was tripped. No one was injured.

Firefighters rolled up their hoses by 12:30 p.m., ventilating the building and the scene was cleared by 12:50 p.m. The amount of damage is unknown.