No Injuries in Mischief Night Fire at 320 Market

No one was injured in a fire that broke out in the rear of 320 Market Cafe on State Street in Media on Mischief Night, the restaurant's owner tells Patch.

The smell of smoke was first noticed by Earth and State's Drew and Heather Arata, who called 911 around 11:40 p.m. on Oct. 30, according to Media resident Brian Sammond, who was at the scene.

Police and fire officials arrived and it was determined the source of the smoke was coming from 320 Market, according to Sammond.

Heather Arata also called Jack Cunicelli, co-owner of 320 Market, and he immediately arrived on the scene to open the storefront in time for the firefighters to enter.

Fire officials found burning rags near the rear of the store, Cunicelli said.

"There's no explanation for it, it's bizarre," he said. "We did nothing different from what we normally do and it was like the rags just spontaneously combusted."

Cunicelli said fire officials examined the rags, which had been cleaned earlier in the day, and looked for cigarettes or something like that, but couldn't find anything.

"We're all puzzled by it," he said.

It was unclear if a cause of the fire has been determined.

The damage to 320 Market Cafe was minimal, Cunicelli said, there were never any flames, just the smoldering rags.

"No one was injured, we just lost some sleep," he said.

Cunicelli said he checked in with the borough and had the health inspector by Thursday morning and 320 Market was open for business as usual on Thursday.

Officials from Media Fire Co. were unavailable to answer any questions.

Along with Media Fire Co. and Media Police, Rose Tree Fire Co. also responded to the scene.