SALEM TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Karl’s Cabin had a full house Wednesday night when a fire broke out, forcing customers and staff to evacuate
The Salem Township restaurant, which has been around for nearly 100 years and is known far and wide around the Ann Arbor area, suffered significant smoke damage.
Firefighters were able to contain the flames to a small back area, preserving the bar, kitchen, and dining room. Firefighters want people to drop everything and leave in the event of a fire, and people did just that on Wednesday night. The food was exactly where it had been left 24 hours earlier.
There were volunteer firefighters in the bar that night, and they went right to work. Video shot by a passer-by shows how fast wind-aided flames quickly took off.
Co-owner Peter Poulos is grateful for the firefighters.
“That was very important,” Peter Poulos said. “It was a busy night with lots of people in the restaurant. They did a great job just getting everyone together and moving them outside.”
A quick response by a dozen fire departments helped a lot, too, says Salem Township Fire Chief James Rachwal.
“Because we’re a rural area and every drop of water we come to fight this fire with we have to truck in and went to our first alarm,” Rachwal said.
It’s looking like a carelessly disposed cigarette outside the back entrance started the fire next to a number of propane tanks. Still, firefighters kept the fire contained to a small back area, with the bar, kitchen, and dining room intact. There is a lot of smoke damage.
Co-owner Louis Poulos calls it a miracle that the whole place didn’t burn, considering there is layer upon layer of varnish on the old cabin logs.
“We’re also just concerned for our staff,” Louis Poulos said. “This sort of situation means we’re going to have to be closed for a little while, and they’re going to have to figure something out.”
“We might be the owners, but our staff is fully invested in this and, quite honestly, so are our customers. We have the best clientele in the state, and we love them. We’ll get it back open again,” Peter Poulos said.
Across from Karl’s and the very busy Gotfredson Road, there is an old farm field that they’re going to turn into a housing development. As part of that construction, they do have fire hydrants, but they’re not connected yet. The chief says that if they had been working, the damage would have been far less.
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