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I've heard rumors of a kitchen fire at Banners all weekend, but haven't been able to confirm anything yet.
Midnight Sun commenter LGood sent me this photo of the Locust Point bar.
Have you heard anything about a fire there? I'm going to put some calls out, and I'll let you know what I find out.
(Photo by LGood)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "simulated sex with a potted palm tree." Before The Sun, he was a reporter at the Miami New Times. He's also written for Miami magazine, the Orlando Sentinel, the Sarasota Herald Tribune and the Gainesville Sun. Got tips? Gripes? Pitches? He's reachable at erik.maza@baltsun.com. Click here to keep up with the dumb music he's listening to.
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Comments
The TV News was all over this. The Locust Point firehouse was closed on rotation and the backup fire house was out on call. By the time the fire trucks finally got there the place was in flames. Dixon played Russian Roulette and lost this time around. But I don't think she cares about this much right about now.
Posted by: Sean Tully | November 30, 2009 9:24 AM
I live down the street and saw a bunch of burned up stuff in the alley next to banners when i walked to my car, i can't believe that i didn't hear the fire trucks, what time did the fire start?
Posted by: Andy | November 30, 2009 9:50 AM
I think there are a lot of odd circumstances about this fire. The bar is owned and operated by firemen. The fire happened while the local firehouse was closed. There were at least 6 fire trucks at the scene closing 2 streets. From what I heard it was a kitchen fire. The fire trucks were there for hours until a local news crew showed up. I think the bar reopened not too long afterward.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 30, 2009 1:20 PM
what day did it happen?
Posted by: Andy | November 30, 2009 1:38 PM
Friday afternoon.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 30, 2009 1:42 PM
are they reopened yet? Is anonymous saying that the bar wanted to make a statement.
FaFaflohi!
Posted by: bababooey | November 30, 2009 4:28 PM
OK, I'm working on a longer, more detailed post about this, but for now, the basic facts:
There was a fire at around 2:30 p.m. Friday. It was a grease fire which started in the kitchen and spread to the storage space above it on the second floor.
Neither of the two owners, who are both firefighters, were there at the time, and the nearby firehouse was closed. It took 15 minutes to extinguish the fire, and damages are estimated at about $100,000.
The bar is still open, but it won't be serving food for the next couple months (until they can get the kitchen back up and running). Stay tuned for more.
Also, anonymous' comments raise some questions about the fire. Anon, I spoke with the fire dept. spokesman as well as the owners, and everything they said makes sense. I don't think there's a larger conspiracy here.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | November 30, 2009 4:34 PM
Please feel free to remove my previous post. I didn't mean to insinuate that they intentionally caused the fire. Only that the amount of fire trucks responding and how long they stuck around for seemed odd. I don't think anyone would burn up their business to prove a point.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 30, 2009 5:38 PM
They are definitely open, just not serving food. I was there last night and really other than a lingering smoke odor you really couldn't tell that there had been anything wrong. The guys are in good spirits and they are planning to rebuild right away.
Posted by: LGood | December 1, 2009 9:08 AM
By the way, what is the difference between a Midnight Sun commenter and a Midnight Sunner? Do you need to know the secret handshake?
Posted by: LGood | December 1, 2009 9:10 AM
@ LGood - there is a HUGE difference between a MS commenter and a Midnight Sunner. It could take me hours to explain it.
Posted by: JTK | December 1, 2009 9:16 AM
Might I recommend a Wikipedia entry on the difference? I am very curious.
Posted by: LGood | December 1, 2009 9:38 PM