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Blaze started in attic and caused about $300K in damage, fire chief says
Updated 9:50 a.m., Aug. 22
Smoke filled the air and 10-foot-tall flames poured from the recently opened Hacienda Arteaga restaurant on South Second Street on Thursday afternoon, all but destroying the Mexican eatery.
 Fire fighters work to salvage what's left of the new mexican restaurant Hacienda Arteaga that caught fire Thursday afternoon off of Hwy 33. Photo by Elias Funez
The cause of the fire was still under investigation as of Friday morning, but Patterson Fire Chief Bill Kinnear said it appeared the fire started in the attic above the kitchen. He said judging by how quickly the roof collapsed, the fire was likely burning for some time before anyone realized it.
That’s not uncommon with attic fires, he said.
“It had burned for quite a while for it to (collapse that fast),” Kinnear said. “They probably wouldn’t (notice the fire) until it started coming through the ducts or if somebody from the outside saw it.”
Rafael Leyva, who was just sitting down for a late lunch with his father, wife and child, said there were about eight customers in the restaurant when the fire started. He rushed to the restroom to retrieve his wife and child as the building was quickly evacuated.
 Paramedics and police officers stand watch as firemen tend to the burning building. Photo by Elias Funez
Arteaga said he was in the dining room when he first noticed the burning smell. He rushed to the kitchen but did not see any signs of fire, then saw the smoke coming from the vents in the dining room. He said two cooks and one waitress were working when the fire broke out.
The waitress, whose name was not given, was treated for smoke inhalation at the nearby Golden Valley Health Center along with one other person. There were no reports of any other injuries.
Close to a dozen firefighters from Patterson, Westley, Crows Landing and Diablo Grande fire departments, as well as CalFire, responded to battle the blaze. The flames ripped a large hole in the restaurant’s ceiling shortly after they arrived.
Once the flames tore through the roof, firefighters went to what Kinnear called a “defensive attack,” evacuating the building and spraying water from above, directly onto the fire in the attic.
At around 2:50 p.m., firefighters began smashing windows and using chainsaws on the building, while a Turlock Irrigation District technician in a crane cut off the power to a line attached to the restaurant.
Within an hour and a half of the fire breaking out, almost the entire roof of the restaurant had burned or caved in. Fire hoses doused the building from all sides, and by 3 p.m. the fire had been mostly contained.
The restaurant, which opened June 27, was still decorated with a “Now Open” sign. Hacienda Arteaga leases the building, which is still owned by its former occupant, the Golden Lion Chinese restaurant. Golden Lion relocated to the Villa del Lago retail center near Interstate 5 in May 2007.
 Firefighters ready breathing tanks before entering the burning building. Photo by Elias Funez
“There’s nothing they can do about it,” said a visibly weary Arteaga, who was comforted by friends, family and other local business owners as the fire continued to burn. “It’s hard to know exactly what happened.”
Kinnear estimated the cost of the damage at about $300,000, calling it basically a total loss. He said it was one of the worst structure fires the Patterson area has seen in some time.
“We’ve had several fires, but we’ve been able to get on the scene and be notified earlier on,” he said. “This was well involved when we got there. It’s been a while since we’ve had a large fire like this with this much damage.”
Irrigator reporter John Saiz contributed to this report.
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