Heathers to reopen soon after fire causes smoke damage

PLAINS – Heathers Country Kitchen is expected to reopen soon, having shut down for approximately a month due to a small fire leaving smoke damage throughout the restaurant.

The repairs and clean up have been going well. At the time of press, the main thing they were still waiting on was someone to be able to reupholster the benches in the booths. The smoke tarnished lots of the walls, floor and ceiling throughout the building as well as leaving a lingering smell in the upholstery.

“Smoke damage is the worst,” said Heather Worrall, owner of Heathers. “Smoke penetrates boxes and plastics … The only thing I was able to keep was stuff that was in tin cans or glass that hadn’t been opened.”

The fire also involved plastic, which made the smell even worse and caused additional cleanup on some surfaces.

The fire was started by the spontaneous combustion of linens; a laundry basket full of towels, napkins as well as other items suddenly caught fire and began spreading smoke throughout the building. It is believed there was enough residual heat from everything being in the dryer, mixed with any left over grease or chemicals that may have been on them, to trigger the fire.

Worrall estimated the restaurant sat in smoke for approximately seven hours before being discovered; when it was discovered, people could not see through the windows because of how covered in smoke and soot they were. Fortunately, the fire happened while the restaurant was closed and nobody was on site.

“It could have been a lot worse and I’m glad nobody was hurt,” Worrall said.

There have been a number of rumors about the cause of the shut down. Worrall recalled one stated they had not paid their power bill and lost all their food when the electricity was shut off. They did lose most of their stock, though, due to food safety requiring they throw things out after a week.

The restaurant was originally projected to reopen last week; however, due to difficulties finding an upholsterer, they had to delay things. Worrall said she would rather stay closed a little longer than open just to close down a few days later while the work is being done.

Heathers is currently expecting to reopen next week, after the Thanksgiving holidays. The plan is to have a Grand Reopening with barbecued meats and other smoked foods as a fun way to recognize the accident.