No Injuries in Minor Fire at Frankie's

There were no injuries and only minor damage from an early Tuesday morning fire in the basement of , Route 35 South, Point Beach, police said.

Police were called to the popular restaurant and bar at 5:33 a.m., smelled and saw smoke and called in the Point Beach Fire Department and the Point Pleasant First Aid and Emergency Squad.

Within minutes, the janitorial staff arrived, unlocked the door and the fire department extinguished the smoldering fire in the basement, police said. Had the cleaning staff not arrived right after the fire department, the firefighters likely would have had to gain entry by knocking down a door, but the need to do that was averted when staff arrived who were able to unlock the door.

There were small items in the basement that had been smoldering, but details on what they were or how the fire started were not immediately available.

When Patch visited Frankie's this morning, the front door was wide open and the interior had a smoky smell, but there did not appear to be any fire damage on the main floor. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner today.

Ocean County Fire Marshal Daniel Mulligan said his staff had at first been called to the scene, but was then cancelled, so he did not have any information on the fire.

The Ocean County Health Department was called to the scene.