Fire destroys T.O. eatery

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers A TOTAL LOSS--Ventura County firefighter Brett Chavez from Thousand Oaks Station No. 30 trains a hose on the smoldering remains of a fire at the Kohinoor Cuisine of India restaurant, 1724 E. Avenida de Los Arboles in Thousand Oaks last Thursday. The cause of the early morning blaze is under investigation. The day after Tej Pal, owner of Kohinoor Cuisine of India, saw his Thousand Oaks restaurant completely destroyed by fire, he said he didn't know what to do, having lost his livelihood of the past 14 years.

"We don't know what we're going to do. Everything is totally destroyed," Pal said Friday. "We hope to (re)open as soon as possible, but we don't know when that will be. We're talking to the insurance (company)."

At 6:27 a.m. Thurs., Dec. 28, someone driving on the nearby 23 Freeway saw flames burning through the roof of the restaurant and called 911. When firefighters arrived, they found flames and heavy smoke billowing from the unoccupied building, Fire Capt. Barry Parker said.

Sixty firefighters, four battalion chiefs, three division chiefs, a deputy chief and a captain fought the blaze with 10 fire engines, three ladder trucks, two squads and a unit that provides supplies. Active flames were knocked down at 7:35 a.m. and by 10 a.m. the fire was completely controlled, Parker said.

One firefighter suffered a second-degree burn to the wrist; another was reported to be ill.

"The bad news is, the restaurant is a total loss. The good news is, the fire was halted from spreading to adjacent businesses," Parker said. "The fire could have easily spread to the other buildings."

Kohinoor restaurant is in a shopping center next to Albertsons market in the 1700 block of Avenida de Los Arboles near the 23 Freeway. It shares a parking lot with the nearby Cisco's Mexican restaurant.

So far, fire officials said, the cause of the fire is not known. A complete investigation is underway, Parker said. The building did not have a sprinkler system, he said.

By noon, Kohinoor patrons who didn't know about the fire began parking and walking toward the restaurant only to find a blackened skeleton of the place where they were hoping to lunch on Indian cuisine.

"I'm shocked. I'm stunned. I come here often to eat Indian food, and I don't know where else to go," said Janine Mansell of Oak Park. "I hope they are able to reopen soon."