Smoky fire burns down Revere KFC

REVERE – A malfunctioning clothes dryer sparked a massive two-alarm fire inside a Revere Kentucky Fried Chicken Monday morning, gutting the restaurant and snarling morning traffic from Brown Circle to the Northgate Plaza.Firefighters were called to the fast food restaurant at 169 Squire Road just before 9:30 a.m. Monday when an employee arriving for work noticed smoke and flames coming from the ceiling. Upon arrival the fire was fully engaged between the ceiling and the exterior roof of the building, forcing firefighters to tear apart portions of the ceiling and walls to get to the flames.As the blaze pumped thick smoke into the air, flames spread into the restaurant’s duct work and eventually caused a portion of the ceiling to collapse.”On arrival the fire was well involved between the ceilings and the roof, and then part of the roof came in,” said Deputy Fire Chief Robert Eydenberg. “We were prepared for (the collapse) because the first ladder company that was on the roof noticed there was an (air conditioning) unit on top of the roof, so when it started getting spongy from the water we moved out.”As a portion of the ceiling came crashing down, the fire department rang a second alarm summoning crews from Everett, Malden, Chelsea and Boston for mutual aid.Eydenberg said late Monday that a preliminary investigation led firefighters to a washing machine and clothes dryer on the restaurant premises that an employee had allegedly been using earlier that morning.”I spoke to an investigator and it appears that they have traced it back to a clothes dryer,” he said. “It appears that an employee went in early to use the washer dryer and when another employee arrived for work, she noticed the flames.”Eydenberg said he was not aware that the restaurant had a washer/dryer unit inside prior to the fire.Fire inspectors and clean-up units remained on the scene late into Monday evening, dismantling portions of the building and making sure that all hot spots had been extinguished.Witnesses in the area say they could not see flames from the roof, but heavy smoke poured out into the surrounding neighborhood for a better part of the morning.”I wasn’t sure what was going on at first but I came out (of work) to have a cigarette and I saw the smoke,” said Jack Turner, a Malden resident who works nearby. “I wanted to come check it out before I went home for the day. Looks like they had a pretty good one on their hands.”Fire crews had several side streets either partially or completely blocked with equipment and, combined with construction taking place on that area of Squire Road, the clean up effort caused a frustrating traffic backup for commuters well into the late hours of the afternoon.KFC corporate communications representatives did not return a call seeking comment Monday, but Eydenberg said his investigation suggests that the building is a total loss, estimating the damage at upwards of $500,000.There were no customers inside the restaurant at the time of the fire and all of the employees made it out of the building without incident. Eydenberg said there were no injuries to firefighters reported.