No injuries in fire at Stockholm’s restaurant in Geneva

No one was hurt in a fire at Stockholm’s Restaurant & Brewery, at 306 W. State St., Geneva, late Wednesday, July 31.

This is the second fire in downtown Geneva in two weeks, the first occurring at retail shop Pärla, 122 Hamilton St.

Owner Mike Olesen said employees at Niche, a restaurant on Third Street located behind Stockholm’s, saw smoke coming through an exhaust hood and alerted the staff and the Geneva Fire Department.

“The fire started in the exhaust hood area. There was enough heat that it caused a fire in the wall ... between the ceiling of the kitchen and the floor in back of the men’s room area,” Olesen said. “And they needed to chop that up to get at it.”

There were two employees and two customers in the restaurant at the time, he said.

“The fire department got here lickety split,” Olesen said. “They jumped on it right away, otherwise it would have been a lot worse.”

According to a news release, firefighters were called just before 10 p.m. from people who saw smoke billowing from the second floor and the roof of the building.

Arriving firefighters found smoke coming from the restaurant’s front door and roof. In addition to the basement kitchen, another fire was found in the bathroom above the kitchen, according to the release.

Firefighters brought the fire under control in less than 30 minutes.

The preliminary area of origin was determined to be in the restaurant’s basement kitchen and the cause remains under investigation, according to the release.

The restaurant’s kitchen and the areas directly above sustained fire, heat, smoke and water damage.

Olesen said insurance examiners are expected on Friday to determine the extent of the loss.

Firefighters from St. Charles, Batavia, Elburn and West Chicago assisted Geneva at the scene.

The Fermilab Fire Department filled in Geneva Station No. 1 and stood by to respond to other calls in the community.

Geneva police, Public Works Electric Division and the Geneva Emergency Management Agency also assisted, according to the release.

According to the restaurant’s Facebook post, the eatery is closed until further notice.

“We would like to thank the awesome folks at the Geneva, Batavia, St. Charles and Elburn Fire Protection Districts. A big Thank You is also in order for our neighbors at Niche for alerting our staff when they did,” according to Olesen’s Facebook post.

“Last but not least, Thank You to our neighbors at Nobel House. They graciously opened their doors to our staff so they could regroup and have a beverage while the Fire Department was at work. We will be working hard to reopen as soon as possible so we can get back to doing what we love!”

As irony would have it, Olesen was not at the restaurant that night, but was attending a fundraiser in Park Ridge called Ignite the Spirit – a charity that raises money for firefighters’ families in need.