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Aug 30, 2007 2:29 pm US/Eastern
No Record Of Violations At Restaurant Before Fire
WEST ROXBURY (WBZ) ―
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Investigators say the fire actually started around 8 p.m., while customers were still in the restaurant, and burned for about an hour in the ceiling, before anyone noticed it.
WBZ
The site of Wednesday's deadly fire did not have any records of fires or fire safety violations in the last 20 years, WBZ's I-Team has learned.
The Tai-Ho Mandarin and Cantonese restaurant was cited for two health code violations in 2006 - one for temperature controls, the other for apparent evidence of rodents or insects.
The state fire marshal said there were two grass fires outside the restaurant in 1986 and 1988, but no fires inside.
When the four-alarm fire was called in at about 9 p.m. Wednesday three employees were inside and all of them escaped safely. The owner was in China due to the death of a relative.
The initial investigation points to a grease fire in the kitchen.
Investigators say the fire actually started around 8 p.m., while customers were still in the restaurant, and burned for about an hour in the ceiling, before anyone noticed it. Grease build-up in a crawl space was smoldering and burning before the flames entered the main section of the restaurant.
After firefighters arrived, a 3-ton air conditioning unit crashed through the ceiling. It doesn't appear the firefighters who were killed were hit by the falling unit.
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