Benny’s Pizza Carryout, 972 Columbus Ave., could be closed for a while following an early morning fire Friday. Investigators determined the fire was an accident and started in the carryout kitchen. The main dining room was closed Friday because the prep work needed to support the dine-in customers is typically done in the carryout building.
(Photo above submitted. Journal-Tribune photo below by Aleksei Pavloff)
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Fire has shuttered a Marysville icon.
Benny’s Pizza, 968 Columbus Ave., was closed Friday following an early morning fire at the pizza shop’s carryout facility nearby.
Fred Neumeier, who owns the business with his wife and sons, said that while the dining room next door was not damaged, the prep work for the dining room kitchen, much of which was already done for Friday, is done in the carryout.
Neumeier said the carryout building sustained “significant damage.”
Marysville Fire Chief Nathan Burns said that at about 2:50 a.m., Friday, a passerby saw smoke coming from the carryout building at 972 Columbus Ave. The witness called 911 to report the fire.
He said that when crews arrived they saw smoke coming from vents in the roof of the carryout building.
Burns said that when crews went in, the building was empty, there was “heavy smoke inside the building” and the fire was “significant.”
“Thankfully, our crews were able to get in there quickly and find out where it was,” Burns said.
Firefighters located the fire in the kitchen.
“They were able to get it stopped before there was significant damage to the structure,” Burns said.
Once the fire was out, investigators from the department’s Community Risk Reduction Bureau were called to the scene.
“They were able to determine it was an accidental fire, caused by smoldering towels,” Burns said.
Burns said there were no injuries.
Burns said Columbus Avenue remained open through the event. He said crews were at the scene for about three hours.
Friday afternoon Neumeier said he and his wife were en route home from South Carolina.
He said once he is able to see the damage and speak with his family, they will make decisions.
“Right now, everything is up in the air. We are trying to figure out what to do,” Neumeier said.
He added, “we are hoping to get the dining room back in operation.”
“We hope to be back open soon for the city,” he said.
The fire chief credited his firefighters with saving the carryout structure.
“When we arrive on scene, our goal is make sure everyone is safe and preserve the structure for the owner and we were able to do that,” Burns said.
He also highlighted the skill of the investigators. He said investigators receive “a lot of training, specifically in investigating.”
He said that when investigators are called to the scene, they get a quick synopsis of what firefighters have seen and once the building is safe “they go inside and get their own eyes on it.” Investigators then interview witnesses and those associated and familiar with the building.
“Utilizing their skills and their knowledge, what they see, what people tell them, they try to come up with a cause,” Burns said. “Sometimes that cause is pretty easy to determine and other times it is more difficult. Luckily with this one they were able to locate it and determine the cause based on what they saw and their knowledge.”
Burns expressed appreciation for fire departments from Allen, Jerome, Washington and Concord townships, Pleasant Valley Joint Fire District, Northwestern Fire District, Northern Union County Joint Fire and EMS District, as well as the Union and Delaware county EMS, Marysville Police Division and Union County Sheriff’s Office for providing assistance on the scene.