Downtown Binghamton Restaurant Kitchen Gets a Bit Too Hot

Firefighters raced to a downtown building owned by Binghamton's mayor when the place started filling with smoke.

David Bradstreet, owner of M&D-R-Nuts at 45 Court Street, discovered smoke in a rear hallway Friday afternoon.

Bradstreet said the heavy smoke was pouring out of a doorway to Currys of India restaurant. He said the thick smoke burned his eyes and throat.

Bradstreet said the smoke became so dense that "you couldn't see a foot in front of you."

Firefighters were dispatched to the building at 3:18 p.m. They discovered the source of the smoke - a charcoal cooker that had not been extinguished in the kitchen of the restaurant, which was closed at the time.

The small cooker was moved to the sidewalk in front of the building and fans were used to ventilate the first-floor. The hot charcoal was extinguished .

Mayor Richard David, who lives in a loft apartment above the businesses, said the smoke did not spread to his residence.

Court Street was closed for about two hours while firefighters were at the scene.

Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com

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