A kitchen fire at Buddy T’s Pub and Restaurant on Main Street in Lewiston was quickly extinguished Tuesday, but the business will be closed for quite a while to repair damage, Lewiston Fire Capt. Paul Fournier said. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

LEWISTON — Firefighters quickly extinguished a late morning fire at Buddy T’s Pub and Restaurant at 675 Main St.

Lewiston Fire Capt. Paul Fournier said that late Tuesday morning, firefighters responded to the report of an odd odor in Buddy T’s.

“During our investigation, we found that Buddy T’s had very high CO readings, but we weren’t sure what the source of it was,” Fournier said. “At first, we thought it was coming from the freezer unit, but it was turned off.”

One of the firefighters found smoke puffing out of the wall near the fryolator, according to Fournier.

“We had to open up the kitchen walls, and when we did, we found a small fire inside,” Fournier said. “It hadn’t grown much so we were able to put it out fast.”

Fournier said Buddy Taylor, the owner of the restaurant, was the only employee at the restaurant at the time and that the restaurant wasn’t open when the odor was discovered.

He said that the restaurant will likely be closed “for quite a while” as the kitchen was damaged in the process of putting out the fire.

“Even though it was confined to a small area in the wall, we had to take the fryolator out and really banged up the walls of the kitchen,” Fournier said. “It was a mess.”

Within an hour of the call, the firetrucks were clearing the scene and the other businesses were allowed to return with no power interruption.

Fire, electrical and health inspectors were called to investigate.