Above: Local fire companies stationed at Smokin Boars BBQ on Route 28 in Phoenicia on Thursday evening, Feb. 25. Photo by Lissa Harris.
Smokin Boars BBQ, a new barbecue restaurant that opened three months ago in the Ulster County hamlet of Phoenicia, caught on fire on Thursday, Feb. 25, police and witnesses say.
The fire began around 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, according to Chad Storey, the chief of the Shandaken Police.
Storey said that someone driving by the plaza on Route 28 where Smokin Boars is located noticed "a huge columm of smoke" rising up from behind the building.
The driver stopped and informed one of the neighboring business owners in the plaza, who called 911, Storey said.
The Phoenicia Fire Department was on the scene until 10 p.m., Storey said. The fire was put out relatively quickly, and the rest of the businesses in the plaza were spared any major damage, he said.
"There is some smoke damage to the other business, but no other damage," he said.
Phoenicia Fire Chief Gary Carr did not immediately return a call for comment on the fire.
The extent of the damage to Smokin Boars itself is still unclear. Gloria Buley and her son Travis, who own the business, were not able to comment on the fire on Thursday night or Friday morning. The family had recently renovated the restaurant, and had opened it in December, according to Catskill Eats.
