Although he has already contacted the restaurant’s insurance carrier, the eatery has been without heat and air conditioning since the fire. “No one can work up there with the rain…it’s electrical so we can’t do anything with the roof” until the pounding storms leave the area.Wagner suspects the recent weather could have caused the fire: “It was probably from the rain, moisture and water in there, one thing led to another and then it shorted out.“ The incident didn’t deter at least one member of the Logsdon’s lunch crowd: a man outside Logsdon’s was seen holding his soup bowl and eating while watching the work of firefighters.
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Firefighters rush in the back door of Logsdon’s Restaurant to discover a small electrical fire. Photo by Don Johnson |
Electrical Fire at Logsdon’s Restaurant interrupts lunch
January 12, 2005
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesThe lunch crowd got more than they ordered on Friday when an air conditioning/heating unit shorted out on top of Logsdon’s at the Santa Paula Airport, causing the popular restaurant to be evacuated for a short time although at least one customer didn’t let the incident interrupt his lunch. The 11:45 a.m. report of a structure fire was received right before the lunchtime rush of customers, but there were about 30 customers inside the restaurant when the smoke alarms sounded. “The smoke alarm went off before the smoke” was visible, said Janice Dickenson.Santa Paula Fire Department engines were joined by Ventura County Fire at the restaurant located on East Santa Maria Street just north of the airport runway. Fire personnel were able to quickly extinguish the flames with an extinguisher.“This is all the excitement I want for the rest of the year,” said Toni Wagner, co-owner of the family restaurant.Damage was confined to the air conditioning/heating unit, said Logsdon’s co-owner and chef Bob Wagner. “…It was a total loss and it’s going to be expensive to replace,” said Wagner on Monday.
