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Kingston Fire & Rescue were called to a structure fire near King and Princess streets just before midnight Sunday. No one was reported injured in the fire. Photo by Peter Hendra /The Kingston Whig-Standard
A fire that broke out late Sunday night in downtown Kingston has completely destroyed a restaurant and caused damage to an adjacent building.
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While there was significant property damage, Kingston Fire & Rescue confirmed that no injuries occurred during the incident.
The Downtown Kingston Business Improvement Area stated that the fire began at 354 King St. E., where The Shuroop Sushi Bar and Ramen House is located. The flames spread through multiple floors of the building.
The blaze then extended to a neighboring structure housing A-One Clothing on its ground floor with apartments above. Thankfully, all residents were alerted promptly and evacuated safely.
The cause of this fire is still being investigated as it took firefighters about eight hours to bring it under control due to the building’s historic nature.
Fire crews remained on site into midday Monday.
Sitting in a coffee shop kitty corner to where it happened were Panos Dimitroulopoulos and his wife Som, who is also chef at The Shuroop. They were waiting for permission to enter their restaurant and assess what had happened.
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“For us, the whole building is gone. They told us the roof is 80 per cent down. The ceiling between the two floors because of water has caved in. So that means internally it’s probably totally destroyed,” Dimitroulopoulos said.The couple took over ownership of their King Street restaurant two years ago when their son started university in Kingston.
“We invested everything- all my savings-to buy this place,” Dimitroulopoulos explained.
The pair were asleep when they got one call every business owner fears most.
“We were in a panic. I woke up my wife; we got into our car quickly drove down only for there being nothing left,” Dimitroulopoulos said.
The couple had shut down for business around 9:30 last night before going home.
Dimitroulopoulos mentioned firefighters initially suspected that flames began in their basement but later suggested it might have actually originated in their kitchen.
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Dimitroulopoulos expressed anticipation for finally taking some time off during holiday break saying:“We just needed some rest because we worked every day for two years.”“Panos added “Last year we basically repainted everything ourselves so even those five days off went into renovating.”Dimitroulopoulos confirmed they are insured and plan on reopening another restaurant but likely at a different location.
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Next month would’ve marked their two-year anniversary owning The Shuroop.“We spent first year rebuilding reputation,”Panos shared.”And this year things improved significantly-people returned-they loved our food-and suddenly this happens.” Standing across street observing his store’s condition while watching firefighters work was Michael Tenenhouse owner of A-One Clothing waiting eagerly find out how bad damages are.“There’s water damage-smoke damage-it is what it is right?”Tenenhouse sighed shrugging shoulders stating how crucial holiday season timing affects his retail operations.
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“The next two weeks are critical for us,” Tenenhouse noted emphasizing significance shopping period coming up leading into Christmas. A-One Clothing established at corner Princess-King streets since ‘38 assures customers they’ll stay strong moving forward despite setbacks announcing “we’re gonna rebuild comeback stronger bigger better.” Some other businesses nearby closed after suffering smoke damage too. Chez Piggy located Rochleau Court laneway reported late Monday morning will remain closed until further notice stating “Here at The Pig-we’re safe though experienced notable amount smoke needing time clean properly assess space” according social media update posted by restaurant manager. phendra Share This Article In Your Social Network
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