Investigation: Cause of Bigg’s on Mass fire was malfunctioning meat smoker; businesses working to reopen

A fire Tuesday at Bigg’s on Mass restaurant that shut down numerous businesses and offices in the 700 block of Massachusetts Street was caused by a malfunctioning meat smoker that led to grease catching fire, according to fire investigators.

Doug Holiday, owner of Bigg’s, said the smoker was 36 years old.

While Bigg’s, 719 Massachusetts St., had hopes of reopening this weekend, Holiday said Friday that it would now be “at least a month” before the location could reopen.

Total damage estimates had not been determined Friday as Holiday and many others worked to get back in business.

Holiday said his main concern was for his employees, whom he is trying to place at his other Bigg’s locations.

Tuesday’s fire was the second for Bigg’s since it opened less than a year ago. On Nov. 20, smoke emerged from the same area in the back section of Bigg’s, and firefighters were called. At that time, Holiday said the response was “much ado about nothing” and that fire was extinguished prior to firefighters’ arrival. The November fire was also caused by grease in the smoker, Holiday said.

Just a few buildings south of Bigg’s, Jefferson’s restaurant, 743 Massachusetts St., has yet to open after its fire on Jan. 15. Owner Brandon Graham said nearly two months after his restaurant’s fire, he has access to his business once again after the investigation concluded and he is currently in the “clean out and demolition” phase.

“It took a month to get the investigation done and deal with insurance,” Graham said. “Rebuilding will hopefully start soon. We’re doing everything we can.”

The Jefferson’s fire closed down the 700 block of Massachusetts Street for about four hours. The smoke was so heavy on Massachusetts Street that it blocked visibility in the block.

The investigation into that fire has concluded with a cause of “undetermined,” according to Division Chief Eve Tolefree, spokeswoman for Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

Graham said that when he heard of the Bigg’s fire, he felt for his fellow business owners down the street.

“Seems like an awful big coincidence,” Graham said. “I could not believe another one would happen that close.”

Lawrence fire crews responded to visible flames and heavy smoke at Biggs on Mass, 719 Massachusetts St., around 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Firefighters investigate a fire at Jefferson's, 743 Massachusetts St., on Jan. 15.

Meg Heriford, owner of Ladybird Diner, 721 Massachusetts St. — right next to Bigg’s — said she and her team have been busy this week.

Her crew worked to clear and clean the restaurant Wednesday and Thursday so that restoration professionals could begin sterilizing and repairing the structure Friday. The downtown diner suffered smoke and water damage, Heriford said, with about a foot of water collecting in the basement.

On Thursday Heriford donated all of the food in the restaurant’s walk-in refrigerators to the Lawrence Community Shelter and raffled off seven salvaged pies to individuals who dropped off diapers for the United Way and AmeriCorps’ communitywide diaper drive, which begins this weekend.

“At least we can feed someone (with the donated foods),” Heriford said. “It feels unnatural not to feed people every day.”

Ladybird Diner is closed until further notice, Heriford said, but the absolute earliest the restaurant might be able to reopen would be the middle of next week.

The store Sweet!, which is just north of Bigg’s, was still closed Friday. Plastic sheeting covered goods in the front window, and a note on the door said the store, which sells baking and kitchen goods, would reopen as soon as possible.

Other businesses like Lynn Kelley Hair Design, which sits in an office suite above Bigg’s, have been able to recuperate relatively swiftly. Though the hallways of the suites above Bigg’s smell faintly of smoke and there’s a hole in the roof, Kelley said she’s had few problems after her initial cleanup Wednesday.

“I bought smoke-be-gone air fresheners and mopped the floors,” Kelley said. “The smell is the worst on the back of the office space, but I couldn’t be happier.”

Kelley said she started taking clients as soon as the evening after the fire. She said she’s hopeful the building will be back to normal soon, as restoration professionals have been working throughout the structure all week.

Looking forward, Graham said his hope is to reopen Jefferson’s in late spring, but “we’re at the mercy of a lot of moving parts.”

And those famous decorated dollar bills on the wall? Graham said they’re toast, due to smoke damage — but he plans to restart the tradition when Jefferson’s reopens.