LOPATCONG TOWNSHIP, NJ (Warren County) – Fire crews were busy Friday dealing with two separate diner fires in Lopatcong Township.
At around 1:45 a.m., firefighters responded to a report of a working fire at the Catch 22 Diner, formerly Red Rose diner, on Route 22 east, according to a post on the Lopatcong Township Fire Company’s Facebook page.
That fire was quickly extinguished, the post said.
“I’m so heart broken today suppose to be my soft opening was so excited but at 4am I get a call from my daughter that diner is on fire I thought I was dreaming but it was real the devil try to knock me down but God is good no one was hurt this is a burden on me but it’s nothing I can’t handle it could of been worse but again I’m glad no one was hurt this is just a building that can get rebuilt so all I ask is for prayers and more prayers,” Tony Arzuaga of Jersey City wrote in a post in the Lehigh Valley Food Group Facebook page.
“Fire Marshall are doing a inspection of the cause. So far it looks like the exterior neon lights caught fire,” Arzuaga said in the post.
Then at around 2:50 p.m., fire crews responded to a reported structure fire at the Key City Diner, located on Route 22 west, the Lopatcong Fire Company said.
Upon arrival, the fire chief observed a heavy smoke condition inside the diner. A water supply was then established and a hose line was stretched into the building to attack a fire located in the ceiling, authorities said.
Additional firefighters pulled the ceiling down to locate additional fire and an aerial ladder was raised to the roof to begin roof ventilation operations, authorities said.
