Barraco's Fire Started in Kitchen Broaster and Quickly Spread: Chief

EVERGREEN PARK, IL -- A fire that started early Saturday morning in the kitchen area of a popular, family-owned Italian restaurant in Evergreen Park, wiped out a section of the building, and caused heavy smoke and water damage to the dining room and bar area.

The Evergreen Park Fire Department and other area fire companies spent several hours knocking back a blaze that began in the kitchen of Barraco’s in Evergreen Park located at 3701 W. 95th St., around 5:30 a.m. Saturday.

“I was at 94th Street and Kedzie with some police officers when we started getting tones [of a large fire],” said Evergreen Park Fire Chief Ronald Kleinhaus. “By the time we arrived on the scene the fire had a pretty good head start.”

>>>> Barraco's in Evergreen Park Sustains Heavy Damage in Early Morning Fire

Kleinhaus said he and the police officers were the first on the scene, where they made sure that everyone had gotten out of the building safely. Restaurant employees told the chief that the fire started in a kitchen appliance and then quickly spread.

“I talked to a kid,” the fire chief said. “He told me the fire started in a broaster located in the middle of the kitchen area. He said the fire just ‘got away from us.’”

When fire crews thought they had the blaze under control, more flames would erupt in other parts of the building, which has several additions. Paper products stored in the kitchen added more fuel to the fire and contributed to its intensity.

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“We thought we had a pretty good knock on it but by the it had gotten into the ceiling and vent spaces,” Kleinhaus said. “We thought we had it again, but it spread to the roof and we had to pull out of there.”

According to the fire chief, the roof collapsed over the kitchen through the entire length of the building. The bar and dining area sustained heavy smoke and water damage. An adjacent 90-year-old bakery business -- Naples Bakery at 3705 W. 95th St. -- suffered water damage but was not touched by the fire.

Two firefighters were treated for minor injuries. One firefighter suffered a hand injury, and the other was knocked in the head by a water stream, the chief said.

No foul play is suspected. Kleinhaus said the preliminary cause of the fire was accidental due to a kitchen appliance.

Dainela Barraco said her father, Nick, and other family member were at the Evergreen Park location assessing damages with insurance adjustors.

:The firefighters did a great job,” she said. “They had trouble getting the actual fire out. The entire kitchen and catering line is completely gone. As of 9:30 [Saturday morning], it looks like the bar and dining room are intact.”

The kitchen and catering line were situated in an addition to building that was added in 1998. The original section of the building had a different roof, which may have kept the fire from spreading to the bar and dining area.

“We will be back and we will rebuild,” Barraco said. “Our customers can come to our Mt. Greenwood location.”

Mayor Jim Sexton called Barraco’s “an institution in Evergreen Park.” The mayor added that Nick Barraco and his family have always generously supported community causes and events.

Oak Lawn business owner Ronia Ghusein, whose family’s Eva Bridals was destroyed by a fire in 2010, said her stomach dropped when she heard about the Barraco’s fire Saturday morning.

“I know firsthand what it feels like,” Ghusein said. “The only thing you can be thankful for is that nobody got hurt. It’s devastating but the building can be replaced and rebuilt. It’s the one thing you have to keep in mind.”

Ghusein, shoe family was able to reopen a new bridal salon a year after their own fire, advised the Barraco family to “take it one day at a time.”

“There’s so much going on when it happens,” Ghusein said. “There’s so much going on that they’re not going to have all the answers today or tomorrow or even next week, but they’ll get through it and go one. They’ll be stronger.”