Fire Marshal Gives Details on White Dog Fire

The fire that caused damage at Wayne Town Center, at 200 West Lancaster Ave. in Wayne, on August 1 started in the duct work leading from a hood over The White Dog Café’s wood-burning grill, according to the local fire marshal. 

The “extensive” damaged caused to the building closed the restaurant, which is “awaiting permits from the township,” according to its Facebook page.

Fire Marshal Don Wood told Radnor Patch that the wood-burning grill had been lit sometime around 9:30 or 10 a.m. Radnor Fire Department received a call at 11:45 a.m., and the fire “had been burning for some period of time,” he said.

Radnor Patch has reached out to White Dog Café owner Martin Grims for this article.

According to Wood, heat from the wood-burning grill was what led to the ignition of either grease or creosote or both in the ductwork leading from the hood over the grill.

The ductwork went to the roof, where there was a fan that drew fumes and smoke there. In fact, when firefighters arrived they had to break open parts of the building’s walls to find the fire. When Wood arrived on the scene he saw ductwork behind the wall “glowing” on second floor, he said.

According to Wood, documentation received by Radnor Township “did not indicate that the duct work had been cleaned in about one-and-a-half years.” The ducts are not easily accessible, Wood said.