Thanks to alert passersby and the quick action of firefighters, a fire last week in the kitchen of Scoot’s BBQ, Hayes, that could have devastated the business, instead resulted in relatively minor damage.
Abingdon Volunteer Fire and Rescue was dispatched to the restaurant around 9:45 p.m. last Wednesday.
According to owner Gary Ward, the fire was contained to the outside exhaust fan and motor, spreading inside the building to a portion of the hood system and setting off the fire suppression system, delaying the spread of the fire. Multiple passersby saw flames and immediately called 911, he explained, and AVFR was on the scene within minutes.
After AVFR units arrived on scene, they requested mutual aid, which was answered by Gloucester Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad and York County. According to AVFR Training Captain Drew Luellen, the fire took less than five minutes to put out, using less than 200 gallons of water.
Crews stayed on scene after extinguishing the fire for about an hour ...