On August 11, 2007, City Barbeque in Centerville, Ohio, sustained $550,000 worth of damage due to discarded smoking materials (read somebody tossed a cigarette butt against the building). The flames spread up the side of the building into the attic.
The attached Graeter’s Ice Cream shop had some smoke and water damage, but the firewall between the buildings stopped the fire from spreading to the adjacent shop.
City Barbeque is allowing its Centerville employees to work at other locations (City BBQ is a 12 store chain now). They expect to reopen in less than 60 days.
This has become a really popular place in Dayton. Luckily, no one was hurt, but the loss of revenue is going to be pretty high, I would think. Just an editorial note that I’ve never understood why people that smoke think it’s ok to just toss the butts on the ground or out their car windows. It’s pure laziness, and it can have pretty devastating consequences. If someone had been in the building, things could have gone from bad to much worse!
