Fairfield restaurant fire forces hotel evacuation

FAIRFIELD – A fire early Monday morning at Kokomo's by Mike and Nikki in Fairfield forced the evacuation of the adjoining hotel, Boarders Inn & Suites (formerly Best Western).

The Fairfield Fire Department was dispatched to the restaurant on West Burlington Avenue at 3:27 a.m. Firefighters discovered a fire in the restaurant's electric room. Smoke from the fire entered the building's air ventilation system, sending it throughout the hotel.

'There were flames in the room when we showed up,” said Fairfield Fire Chief Scott Vaughan. 'Our guys went in and did a quick knock-down. We had to shut the power off before we could put out the rest of the smoldering fire.”

Vaughan said the fire was contained mostly to the electrical room. He said nobody was in the electrical room at the time of the fire.

For any structure fire, a request for mutual aid goes out automatically to neighboring fire departments. In this case, Libertyville Fire Department responded with eight firefighters to add to Fairfield's 19. Also assisting on scene were CARE Ambulance and the Fairfield Police Department.

The restaurants' owners, Mike and Nikki Papazoglou, said the electrical room where the fire occurred was responsible not just for supplying electricity to the restaurant but to the whole building, including the hotel. Mike said he expects repairs will take three to six months because the building will have to be rewired.

Those who wish to help the Papazoglous can reach Mike by calling 319-759-1764.