(Above) Chicago Fire Department photo of kitchen area at Smith & Wollensky where a fire was reported and extinguished on April 5. (Cropped to show area more clearly. Click on images to view larger versions.)

By Steven Dahlman

22-Aug-24 – A commercial broiler oven that ignited food remains and grease was the cause of a fire at a River North restaurant in April that injured a firefighter, the Chicago Fire Department has concluded.

The fire on April 5 at Smith & Wollensky was accidental, according to the incident report obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, and there were no fire prevention code violations.

Though quickly contained, the fire produced intense heat, according to the report, along with smoke that spread throughout the restaurant and onto the north bank of the Chicago River.

At 5:07 p.m. on April 5, a woman on the State Street Bridge called 911 to report an “obscene amount of black smoke coming from the vent underneath the restaurant.”

Twenty-five Chicago Fire Department units responded, including two CFD trucks. With smoke alarms sounding and a sprinkler system activated, firefighters from Engine Company 42 based at 55 West Illinois Street quickly located and extinguished the fire in an interior kitchen on the plaza level of Marina City. Photos provided by CFD indicate the fire was extinguished 36 minutes after it was reported.

(Left) Chicago Fire Department photo of CFD vehicles on State Street responding to a fire on April 5 at Smith & Wollensky at Marina City.

One firefighter was injured while extinguishing the fire. Terrance Holmes, a firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician from Truck Company 3, also based at 55 West Illinois Street, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

The fire, said the report, was caused by “the ignition of food remains and grease coming from radiant heat of the broiler (auto-ignition of grease), immediately spreading to a commercial refrigerator.”

(Right) Broiler oven suspected of causing the April 5 fire at Smith & Wollensky. Photo obtained from Chicago Fire Department.

The report noted “severely charred remains of electrical and refrigeration components” that displayed “particular damage specifically indicative of localized intense heat generation,” though the damage, according to the report, was not the result of direct contact with flames.

A sous chef who was in the kitchen area preparing food for a private event said he noticed fire and heavy smoke coming from the broiler. The smoke and fire, he said, “grew rather rapidly.” He tried to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher but had no luck. He then alerted General Manager Regina Arendt, who also saw heavy smoke coming from the broiler, and they helped evacuate guests and employees from the restaurant.

Another employee told CFD he was in his office and could see flames coming from the broiler.

The restaurant is one of eleven Smith & Wollensky locations worldwide. It opened at Marina City in 1997. This was the restaurant’s first incident that resulted in a fire investigation.