The Pixie restaurant reopened following smoke damage after small fire
The inside of The Pixie restaurant, as Servpro restoration teams clean and repair parts of the building that suffered smoke damage from a small fire on the morning of Jan. 13, 2018.
No significant damage to the inside of The Pixie restaurant resulted from a small fire on the morning of Jan. 13.
The restaurant, located at 302 N. Mission St., was temporarily closed Jan. 13 following the fire. All damage was caused from smoke that accumulated between the roof of the building and the ceiling tiles.
"It's surprising how much smoke can actually cause damage — it gets stuck on walls and ceiling tiles and things like that," said division manager Teri Cregger.
The fire was caused by a malfunctioning transformer that powers one of the neon signs lights located near the entrance of the building. The restaurant, a staple in Mount Pleasant since 1948, is decorated with several articles of 1950s memorabilia, including multiple neon signs and a jukebox.
When restaurant manager Dawn MacLean turned on the neon lights that line the exterior of the building at 8 a.m., the transformer caught fire and began leaking smoke into the area above the ceiling tiles, which initially wasn't seen by employees in the building.
Another employee, who lives across the street from the restaurant, could "see the flame on the front end of the building," Cregger said, and told his parents to call 911. He alerted the employees inside the building, who were not yet aware of the fire. The Mount Pleasant Fire Department responded to the fire and had it extinguished by 9 a.m.
"If it wasn't for (the boy across the street), it could have been a lot worse than it was," Cregger said.
A hole left by a firefighter's ax and a broken neon light, which resulted from efforts from the Mount Pleasant Fire Department to put out a small fire at The Pixie restaurant on Jan. 13, 2018.
The drive-thru portion of restaurant reopened around 3 p.m. the same day, and the restaurant in full reopened for normal business hours on Jan. 14.
Servpro fire restoration teams have been managing the damage and beginning repairs throughout the day. In addition to wiping down surfaces in the building and using air cleaners to remove the odor of smoke, Servpro workers will also be replacing ceiling tiles and insulation within the dining area.
