China Village Fire Shuts Doors (For Now)

A popular Solano Avenue restaurant has been closed for more than a week following an extensive kitchen fire, authorities said. 

Engineer Eric Agee, of the , said the fire at started after the restaurant had closed on March 24. 

Crews were doing a semiannual (twice yearly) cleaning and degreasing in the kitchen when "a fire flared up near the deep fat fryer," he said. The call came in at 11:23 p.m. 

The restaurant's "hood and duct" system, which uses a wet chemical to douse flames, put out the fire before firefighters arrived. 

"There was a lot of fire damage inside, but no real structural damage," said Agee. "They'll have to replace some sheet rock. We had to pull some ceiling down to make sure no fire got into the area above."

Firefighters had called for help from Richmond and Berkeley, but canceled the request when they discovered the fire was out; one ambulance from Berkeley did show up.

There were no reported injuries. 

Agee described the damage to the kitchen as "significant," but could not provide a damage estimate. (The fire marshal is responsible for providing this information.)

Agee said parts of the restaurant would need to be cleaned and re-painted. 

"There was quite a bit of smoke in the dining area too," he said. "But it may just need to be cleaned."

Firefighters cleared the scene just before 1 a.m. 

The restaurant could not be reached this week to provide information about when it would re-open. 

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