The Sea Cow is on fire!

[Reluctant runner]

Two fire engines but no ambulances on the scene, which is a good sign.

[Mark]

.. is it still on fire? And pictures, we want pictures...

[Huguenot]

Okay, going down now...

[bumbalina]

Honey, please be careful. We wouldn't want any fish batter splattered on that cute little face of yours.

[snorky]

It wasnt me. Ive got an alibi.

[Ant]

I can hear the ED residents' howls of anguish from here.

Oh, wait, no. That's just the school playground round the corner.

[CrystalClear]

Good luck Huguenot.

[Incitatus]

I passed there about 12:30, all looked under control, their Fulham branch had a big old fire a while back, do I smell something fishy ?

[Joe likes dinner]

any jokes about flame grilling opposed to deep-fat-frying anybody?

[Huguenot]

A message then from your roving reporter... [i should add for commercial lurkers that these photos are copyrighted to myself and have identifiers in the encoding!]

The exterior damage is quite minimal, but it belies a significant degree of the damage on the inside. The piles of semi-burnt stuff in front of the door is stuff they've pulled out from the inside - menus and the like:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/158/404600381_b8d500d0b9.jpg?v=0

Dan Rigby (one of the owners) was kind enough to let me inside for a few snaps.

The largest outlay looks likely to be on the equipment - those big old fashioned fryers have quite a waiting list. You can't clearly make out the floor but it's washed in foam (as opposed to water, which wouldn't be much good for an oil fire.):

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/143/404600218_87606feae2.jpg?v=0

The customer facing side is less damaged, however that big burnt metal sheet is actually the back of the serving counter not customer seating. It seems that the shop was well put together from a safety perspective - even the fish on display at the front didn't get cooked!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/137/404600310_26c76d2b47.jpg?v=0

Poor old Dan's having a nightmare, with the various comings and goings managing to break the lock on the door!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/128/404600139_d813bb68f9_m.jpg

Clearly before the insurance company comes in it's difficult to assess the cause of the fire. It co-incided with turning on the fryers to warm up for the day's business but could be something electrical or even a secondary cause. From these photos most of the damage is focused around the nearest deep fat fryer.

They've not had to deal with a similar fire before (so I'm not sure about the Fulham info Incitatus, they don't have one there). But they said similar damage next door took 9 weeks to make good. The two major delays will be the time taken for the insurance company to assess and the time taken to get new fryers. All very sad - this is a great local business with great food!

Dan (as you'd imagine) is gutted; they're just opening the Stoke Newington Branch, and trying to launch a series of summer events including a competiton to win trips to the Isle of Wight for some odd-ball music festival.

I've got his email address if anyone wants to send their sympathies, or you can contact them through The Sea Cow

[mockney piers]

Good effort Huguenot, and my heart goes out to Dan who's always been great every time we've visited.

[Mark]

good work Huguenot, I hope they get it back up and running soon.

[Incitatus]

Begging your pardon I was talking Pollocks, my mistake, it was the other ham, Clapham that also had a fire.

[clare]

get well soon sea cow x

[spymum]

I saw the mess inside as I walked past this afternoon; it looked awful - poor Dan; I hope they get it up and running very soon.

spymum

(Blog: Posh Mum)

[Ant]

I shall make a point of visiting when they reopen. Let's hope it doesn't take them too long.

Best of luck to you, Dan, if you somehow end up reading this.

[Keef]

Without wanting to sound too unsympathetic, I'm sure the other businesses will pay the rent whilst the sea cow is out of action. Glad no one was hurt, and good luck getting it back on track.

[mockney piers]

Am I missing something? Ties?

[Keef]

Er yeah sorry, was using my phone to type. now edited to OTHER ;-)

[CrystalClear]

mockney - you get to work before nine?! You poor, poor man!!

[mockney piers]

so what you're saying is that now I look like some sort of weirdo ranting about ties?

CC - ten past 8, and that after the owner of the Drum kept pouring me free shots of finlandia vodka all night!!

Did I mention what a jolly nice chap he is?

[Ant]

I'm out on the booze in ED tonight - I may well give the Drum a go.

[Nero]

The bloke at the Drum was also v nice to me last night, pre Green and Blue. I wanted a sarny, but the cook was already gone, so he gave me crisps and then he gave me some lovely nachos with a lovely home made salsa. Lovely! Nero

[the seacow]

Thanks to everyone for the huge support shown last week when we had our fire. It was all very shocking for us and it seems the cause was a thermostat failure on one of the fryers. It happens on rare occasion but would have been spotted had somebody been cooking in them since the temp rising would have been a giveaway. Particular thanks to the folks at Green & Blue who kept us topped up with late night coffees whilst we worked away. The damage was mainly due to the foam spray used to put out the fire so a new paint job saw that right. It now looks fantastic, brand new again. The new fryers are working hard again so thanks to you all who posted messages of support. It is a real testament to the community spirit of East Dulwichites!!

Paul & Dan

[capt_birdseye]

Three cheers for the sea cow!