Fire sprinkler saves restaurant

A sprinkler system and efficient firefighters were able to limit damage at a popular Lake Oswego restaurant early Tuesday morning.

La Provence Restaurant, at 16350 Boones Ferry Road, experienced an estimated $25,000 in damage from a blaze that occurred in the middle of the night, and it will most likely be closed for at least a week. But things could have been far worse. One single sprinkler head kept the fire in check until firefighters were able to completely extinguish it.

"Without this sprinkler system, the fire damage would have been way worse than the water damage it did," said Lake Oswego Fire Marshal Gert Zoutendijk.

At 3:15 a.m. Lake Oswego firefighters were alerted to a fire alarm at La Provence. As soon as the first truck, Truck 211 from the Jean Road fire station, arrived on the scene it was noticed that smoke was coming from the roof, so more trucks were immediately requested.

While more fire units were en route, the crew of Truck 211 evaluated the situation and found that the restaurant was charged with smoke. The firefighters came up with a plan to attack the fire. When they went inside, it took them 20 minutes to locate the source of the smoke, which was a fire inside a wall space next to the kitchen.

The Lake Oswego Fire Department was assisted by the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue.

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Fire sprinkler saves restaurant