A fire at Three Colours Lotus has left sections of the Silk #2 building without power for an estimated 2.5 months, neighboring business owner Tim Hilbert of Tim’s Texas Bar-B-Q said.
An electrical fire at the Indian restaurant started about 2:30am on August 14. Security guards were able to contain the flames until the city fire department arrived and used water to extinguish the fire. After verifying the cause of the fire was electric — which should be extinguished by snuffing out the fire’s oxygen, instead of using water — the fire department decided it would be safest to temporarily cut the entire building’s electricity.
After one week, a representative from the city's fire department arrived at Hilbert’s restaurant and said it was safe to switch back on site electricity. However, the Silk #2 building’s landlord decided to reformat certain electrical areas of the building, including Tim’s Texas Bar-B-Q. The landlord estimated the reformat will take about two months, and that emergency generators cannot be used during that time. He is waiving Hilbert’s rent while the reformat is being made.
“There doesn’t seem to be a sound reason behind it,” Hilbert said.
Along with a functioning electrical system, Hilbert estimated he’s lost about 60 percent of his business. He can no longer serve beer on draft. The restaurant has been strung with pole vault lighting that Hilbert recharges nightly using e-bike batteries. Twice a day he runs to his home freezer to get more food supplies.
The Texas outfit will continue to serve more than 25 kinds of bottled beer, margaritas, and white wine during the outage. Hilbert has been cooking with gas, and hotdogs, chili and smoked brisket and pork ribs are staples for this interim menu. Beginning this Saturday, Tim’s Texas Bar-B-Q will play host a weekly Cajun shrimp boil.
“In this town, and in this country, there are some things you can do stuff about and some things you can’t do stuff about,” Hilbert said. “So, in this case, I decided to light up the store with electric batteries, have limited menus and appeal to my friends to come down and help us through this tough time.”
The exact cause behind the Three Colours Lotus fire is unknown. They were unavailable for comment. Tim's electricity will be turned back on around 15 October.
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