Small fire causes damage at IHOP
The 59th anniversary celebration at IHOP, 3837 Central Ave., on Tuesday was briefly interrupted by a fire in a flower bed that caused minor damage to the structure.
The fire was “most likely” started by a discarded cigarette butt that was flicked into the flower bed’s mulch, said Incident Commander Carl Hawthorn of the Hot Springs Fire Department.
The Hot Springs Fire Department and Hot Spring Police Department responded to the restaurant shortly after 1 p.m. in reference to a structure fire.
“We started smelling smoke, but didn’t know where it was coming from. Just a little while after that, we noticed smoke that looked like it was coming from the light fixtures. Next thing I know (the other employees) are yelling for everyone to get out,” said IHOP employee Michael Vitagliano.
Hot Springs Fire Chief Ed Davis said the fire spread from the flower bed to inside the wall. When they arrived there was fire on the inside and outside of the building, and smoke could be seen rising from a corner of the building.
The store employees attempted to put out the flames on their own, but quickly realized they needed to call for assistance or risk serious structural damage.
“We were able to get everything under control shortly after arriving,” said Davis.
The small fire caused the restaurant to shut down for a few hours Tuesday afternoon, but they were quickly cleared by the Arkansas Department of Health to reopen later in the day.
“It could have been a lot worse and I’m just glad everyone is OK. In the future, we would just like people to be a little more careful,” said IHOP manager Angie Pelt.
Tuesday marked the 59th anniversary of the IHOP brand, and to celebrate the restaurant planned to offer 59 cent pancakes between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Due to the interruption caused by the fire, restaurant managers elected to extend the offer until 10 p.m.
“We don’t want any of our customers to miss out on this deal,” said Pelt.