Cooking oil-soaked rags that spontaneously ignited inside the kitchen of Midtown Bar & Grill early Monday have been pinpointed as the cause of a fire that has closed the business temporarily, Manhattan fire officials said Tuesday. Manhattan firefighters were called around 6:30 a.m. Monday to 100 S. State St., for a reported fire in a single-story strip mall. Crews encountered heavy smoke and a kitchen fire at Midtown Bar & Grill.
Crews extinguished the blaze within 15 minutes, then made sure all hotspots were out. The damage was contained mostly to the kitchen, Manhattan Fire Protection District Chief Steve Malone said.
An investigation into the source was led by Manhattan Fire Protection District Fire Investigators, with assistance from the New Lenox Fire Protection District Fire Investigators, the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
The cause of the fire was identified as the improper storage of oil-soaked rags, which led to “spontaneous heating and ignition,” the Manhattan Fire Protection District said.
Manhattan Patch