La Jolla’s Marisi Italian restaurant had a fire scare yesterday morning before it opened. Firefighters from the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department were summoned to the scene, arrived at 6:35 a.m., and quickly used thermal cameras to find and address the hot spot in the wall. A swift intervention allowed them to extinguish the fire in approximately 20 minutes, as FOX 5 San Diego reported. The quick response by the fire department officials confined the damage to just the wall, preventing the fire from spreading to nearby buildings or the upstairs apartments.
In addition to the firefighters' efforts, there was an unintended consequence of their necessary wall breach. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, cutting into the walls to stop the fire's spread inadvertently ruptured a water pipe, resulting in a temporary water shutdown for Marisi and other local businesses. While Marisi underwent unexpected plumbing repairs, other establishments like Queenstown Village, which shares the structure with the Italian restaurant, also faced temporary closure.
No injuries were reported among civilians or firefighters in the incident. San Diego fire Battalion Chief Erik Windsor spoke on the aftermath, stating, "The restaurant that was involved will unfortunately be closed for several days and will need to have health department inspection and approval to reopen," and expressed hopes for a quick return to operations, "Hopefully, they will be serving food to their patrons in no time," the San Diego Union-Tribune detailed. Windsor did not specify the cause of the fire but did not rule out the possibility of electrical or restaurant equipment failure.
The incident required a significant deployment of emergency resources, with details made available by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department indicating the effort comprised 2 trucks, 4 engines, 2 battalion chiefs, 1 medic, and 28 personnel. No fire investigator was assigned, according to the department's incident report.
