HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – A popular restaurant on the south side of Holland had to put everything on hold on Friday afternoon due to an apparently careless smoker.
Crews from Holland Public Safety and the Graafschaap Fire Department were called to the Village Inn off of South Washington Avenue, and according to Holland Public Safety Fire Captain Chris Tinney, a smoldering cigarette butt apparently ignited near the establishment’s entrance. “About 1:30 (PM) we got a report of smoke inside of the building,” he explained. “We arrived on scene right away and found that we had some light smoke on the exterior. It was located primarily around this column (pointing to burned out column pictured in this story) and we thought it extended up into the roofline.
“Once we got into the building, we identified the fact that the fire was indeed outside of the building and contained, basically, to this column and this part of the roof area. We quickly extinguished the fire. We got a lot of smoke in the building and we’re trying to remove that right now (as of 2:30 PM). With any luck, (the restaurant) should be back (in operation) by the end of the day.”
No injuries were reported, and Tinney initially estimated the damage as less than 10 thousand dollars.
