By Joshua Benton
Blade Staff Writer
Page 10
A two-alarm fire caused about $80,000 damage to a downtown second-story restaurant last night, Toledo fire officials said.
The blaze at George’s City Club, 415 North Huron St., started in a storage area in the rear of the second floor.
The fire department got the call at 6:43 p.m. and, 13 minutes later, called a second alarm to bring more firefighters to the scene.
They proved unnecessary because the fire was brought under control within 20 minutes.
Batallion Chief Jerry Abair said the extra firefighters were brought in because the building involved was connected at the second floor to another building, to which flames could have spread quickly.
Firefighters first raised a ladder to the build ing’s roof to attack the fire from the rear.
A few minutes later, another group of firefighters climbed the narrow stairway that connects the building’s Huron Street entrance to the second floor, pushing the fire toward the first group of firefighters.
In addition to the fire damage, the flames caused an interior water pipe to burst, flooding some first-floor offices, officials said.
The building’s first floor houses the offices of Continental Secret Service Bureau, a security agency, and the Toledo Newspaper Guild, which represents unionized employees of The Blade.
The cause of the fire was still under investigation last night.