A two-alarm blaze damaged the New Ginza restaurant on Galen Street Thursday morning.
The fire started in the kitchen of the Japanese restaurant where workers were starting to cook, said Watertown Fire Capt. Bill Maietta. He said some oil caught fire and spread.
“The kitchen took a big hit,” Maietta said. “The bulk of the fire was around the stove, and it went through the vents and made it to the roof.”
Calls came in reporting smoke coming from the building at 63 Galen Street at about 8:50 a.m. The second alarm was called for minutes later.
A fire on Watertown’s Galen St. has morning traffic impacted on the Newton line. @WatertownPD and Fire, and @NewtonFireDept and @WalthamFireDept working at the scene, a small restaurant. Photos by @pictureboston pic.twitter.com/QE3bisgS6R
— NBC10 Boston (@NBC10Boston) May 9, 2019
Maietta said the fire was knocked down in 20-30 minutes. Most of the damage was in the kitchen, but some parts of the ceiling and roof suffered flame damage, and other parts of the restaurant had smoke damage.
Watertown firefighters received help from the Newton, Belmont and Waltham fire departments.
Traffic on the area of Galen near Watertown Square was impacted during the fire. Fire crews left the scene at 10:50 a.m.
Charlie,
Seriously, there’s many things you can report on, so thanks for taking the time to get to the bottom of this one, and quickly. As all Watertowners know, Galen street is a madhouse every morning, and it was unfortunate that this occurred right at the height of rush hour. Thanks for sharing the reason behind why many of us were late to work or whatever appointments we had this morning. The knowledge helps to reduce the level of frustration!
Oh, no! So sorry to hear this happened to New Ginza! A very special Watertown restaurant with a very nice menu. Hope they get back on their feet soon.