Hereford House Fire Damage Exceeds $1M

Source from:  October 20, 2008 Kansas City Business Journal 10/21/2008

An explosion and fire at the Hereford House restaurant at 2 E. 20th St. did more than $1 million in damage and is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Kansas City Police Department's bomb and arson team. Joe Vitale, a battalion chief and public information officer for the Kansas City Fire Department, said Monday that the KCFD received cell phone calls reporting an explosion and fire at the building about 12:45 a.m. Monday. The KCFD dispatched 12 to 15 pumpers, aerial ladders and other fire department vehicles to the scene of the two-alarm fire, Vitale said. Firefighters found heavy smoke and fire running laterally along the building's roof line, he said. The brick veneer on the building's south side had blown off, he said, "so there was some concern about structural integrity." Firefighters vented the roof and brought the fire under control within 40 minutes, he said. No injuries occurred. Smoke but no fire spread to the vacant five-story building immediately to the north, Vitale said. Officials with the local ATF office and the KCPD couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Anderson Restaurant Group owns the restaurant and Hereford House locations in Independence, Leawood, Shawnee and the Northland, and Pierpont's at Union Station. Officials with the company couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Enditem