Genoa restaurant damaged by early morning fire

A kitchen fire did more than $75,000 in damage to the Teig Building in Genoa on Friday morning.Smoke was spotted in the building, which houses Genoa Station Bar and Grill and Sweet Repeats, at about 8:55 a.m. Restaurant owner Karen Holmes said that she smelled wood burning when she came to work on Friday.“I turned on the fans to try and get the smell out,” she said.When the cook arrived, she told him to start the bacon so the smell would fill the restaurant, and he turned off the fans, which allowed smoke to collect around the ceiling.“That’s when I said ‘it looks like we're in trouble.’ We shut everything down and I called 911,” she said.Holmes said that if it had been a Monday when the restaurant is closed, the fire might have done a lot more damage.“There would have been flames,” she said.Smoke was coming out of the north and west sides of the building as firefighters cut holes in the north wall to get at the fire.East Fork Deputy Chief Dave Fogerson said the fire appeared to be limited to the attic area.The restaurant’s kitchen will be closed until it is cleaned up and inspected by the health department, Fogerson said.A metal roof and the building's age complicated fighting the fire, Fogerson said.East Fork Fire investigator Capt. Terry Taylor said heat from the stove over time was conducted through a stainless steel sheathing, essentially turning the wood behind it to charcoal and starting the fire.Taylor said the restaurant will have to rip out the wall and replace it, before it can be reopened.Downtown Genoa was closed for two hours while firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze. A score of firefighters from Genoa, Minden, Sunridge, and the Gardnerville Ranchos responded to the fire, as did Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies and troopers with the Nevada Highway Patrol.