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By Kevin Coughlin
Tenants who live above George & Martha’s American Grille lost some belongings in Thursday afternoon’s smoky blaze. But firefighters rescued a prized possession: A cat named Smoke.
“I was so happy,” said Kalyn Foster, cuddling Smoke in her arms inside the Morristown Diner.
Foster, 23, is one of five adults and two children who share a three-room apartment above George & Martha’s. She was working a block away at the End of Elm restaurant on Thursday when a co-worker told her about the fire.
She called her boyfriend, Alex Marroquin, who was in the apartment getting ready for work.
“Usually there are false alarms. I called him and told him to get out,” Foster said.
Seeing smoke between the walls, the boyfriend collected their dog, a pit bull mix named D.J. But he could not locate the 7-year-old cat. Luckily, firefighters did, said Foster.
No injuries were reported.
Slideshow photos by Kevin Coughlin and Berit Ollestad
The fire appears to have started in a restaurant cooking duct, shooting upstairs through the duct, behind the walls, said Morristown Fire Chief Robert Flanagan.
Firefighters punched holes in the roof for ventilation, Flanagan said. The apartment sustained a fair amount of water and smoke damage; for the restaurant, it mostly was smoke damage, he said.
Kait Falcone of Lincoln Park saw a plume of smoke as she drove by the Morris Street restaurant at 2:18 pm. Firefighters had not yet arrived. When she returned a few minutes later, she said, fire trucks were on the scene.
Morristown’s department was assisted by firefighters from Morris Plains, Cedar Knolls, Madison and New Vernon, Flanagan noted. The Morristown Ambulance Squad and the Morris Minute Men also responded.
Etelbinae Alvarado, an immigrant from Guatemala who works at a nearby fast food restaurant, said she has lived above George & Martha’s for two years with her husband and two children, ages 6 and 5. Her brother-in-law and sister-in-law also live there, she said.
Family members were awaiting word from the Red Cross about where to stay.
A message on George & Martha’s website said: “We will be closed tonight. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Peter Rostides, co-owner of the Morristown Diner, next door to the fire, said he had some anxious moments. But the diner remains open.
“We never close,” he said.
Correspondent Bill Swayze contributed to this report.