Firefighters respond to smoke at Ladybird Diner; towels in basement dryer were cause

Employees at Ladybird Diner cleared tables Sunday afternoon after smoke from a clothes dryer in the basement cleared the restaurant.

The smell of smoke lingered in the restaurant on Massachusetts about 2 p.m. Sunday as responding fire crews left the scene. The restaurant closed for the rest of the day Sunday and is typically closed on Monday anyway.

Firefighters with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical responded about 1 p.m. to reports of smoke at the diner, 721 Massachusetts St.

Scanner traffic indicated that no flames were initially visible, and that the source of the smoke was a dryer in the basement.

Mark Elliott, battalion chief with Lawrence Douglas-County Fire Medical, said a clothes dryer with towels inside overheated and started to smoke. The dryer was in the basement, and smoke was visible on both floors.

Fire Medical used fans to ventilate the building once it was determined there were no flames. No water was used, Elliott said. No one was injured.

The restaurant re-opened in August; it had been closed for more than six months after it sustained smoke and water damage when firefighters put out a fire in an adjacent restaurant.