Early in the morning of Sunday, August 2, a 911 call was placed to Newtown Communications saying that a fire had erupted at 71 South Main Street. It looked like the flames and smoke were coming from newly opened jjStacks.

Newtown Hook & Ladder Chief Ray Corbo was first on scene and began operating as the OIC — or officer in command. The 911 call was placed at 8:35 am, and Corbo was there at 8:43. Corbo observed heavy smoke from the roof and rear of the building. An engine from Hook & Ladder arrived on scene shortly after.

jjStacks owner Joe Attonito told The Newtown Bee via e-mail, “I was woken up by a text saying there was what looked like a fire at the restaurant … I arrived shortly after the text — probably got there a little before 9. I didn’t get much info as I didn’t want to be in the way of our wonderful volunteers doing their best to save Stacks and all the other businesses.”

Ricky’s Plaza at 71 South Main Street is home to 14 businesses in total, so the pressure was on to ensure the fire did not spread to other businesses. Due to the incident being a fully involved structure fire, all five volunteer fire companies in Newtown were dispatched.

“Newtown Police already had the road shut down and Newtown Communications, our dispatch, already had established the closest hydrant for us, so it made it a little bit easier,” Corbo said. The closest hydrant was right across the street at Carminuccio’s.

There were about 15 firefighters from Hook & Ladder, and Corbo said there were about 25 from the other fire companies. Stepney Volunteer Fire Company was the rapid intervention team for Newtown during this call, and surrounding fire companies were called in to cover Newtown’s firehouses.

Corbo called a “working fire” to dispatch and started to think about a “plan of attack” for the incoming companies.

“Kitchen was well involved, heavy smoke throughout the restaurant,” Corbo said. “These guys did great. That building could be on the ground right now.”

He added that the fire companies were lucky it was a Sunday, as the response could have taken longer and had less manpower due to an overall lack of available volunteers.

“Typically, the outcome of a fire is determined in the first five minutes,” Corbo explained. The fire was knocked down at 8:59 am. The firefighters then began checking the surrounding areas for extension. There was extension in the ceiling, so the firefighters continued working on extinguishing the flames.

All in all, the volunteers were fighting the fire for about 30-40 minutes.

“We had to chase it a lot,” Corbo said. “We had to cut some pretty big vent holes in the roof, and that helped us locate it.”

Corbo also communicated with Eversource to get the power and gas shut off to the unit and rest of the plaza. The power and gas were cut at 9:04 am and were turned back on shortly after 11 am.

Corbo said that a few businesses in the plaza were also affected by “moderate smoke damage.” Firefighters were sent into the surrounding businesses and pulled down the drop ceilings to ensure there was no extension in the other units.

“The guys did great by containing it and keeping it in one unit,” Corbo praised his volunteers.

Fire Marshal Steve Murphy also responded to the scene. As the fire marshal, Murphy’s job is a bit different. His job is to document everything and determine possible causes of the fire. He snapped photos of the firefighters working and of the units that were affected by the fire.

“You just have to document as best you can anything that could possibly be related,” Murphy explained.

Murphy said jjStacks will have to be gutted and rebuilt as everything was damaged either by fire, smoke, or water. Murphy followed the smoke and heat patterns after the fire was extinguished to start determining probable causes. He noted that the direction of smoke and heat damage was away from the heavy-duty kitchen equipment, like the stove, oven, and deep fryer. That was what he noticed on Sunday.

Murphy explained that as moisture evaporates and everything oxidizes, it is easier to see the heat damage on metals, which helped him further narrow down the location of the first spark. Murphy called in the Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit, part of the Connecticut State Police, to help examine the scene and further determine possible causes.

Sometimes, heat damage patterns can be a “drop down,” meaning a point of contact burned through and weakened, so the item on fire swings down. Murphy thought that may have happened, but further investigation proved this idea wrong.

“We thought it could have been swing down, but it wasn’t. There’s a nice big remnant of a bag of greasy rags from the kitchen,” Murphy said. “Spontaneous combustion.”

Murphy thinks that is the probable cause. The rags are being sent out for testing to verify what is on them and if it was the cause of the fire.

“It happens more often than you think. Not in the restaurant world — it does happen — but garages, greasy, oily rags. Construction … wood refinishing, linseed oil, fresh, new varnish on a hardwood floor. All those rags, and then you put them in a garbage can or a dumpster … and a day later, the dumpster’s on fire,” Murphy said.

For those concerned about the safety of their own home, Murphy suggested leaving oily rags outside and letting them air out on the grass. Do not ball them up or store them in sealed containers where the heat cannot escape.

Due to this being a fire in a restaurant, with another restaurant affected, Newtown Health District was also involved. Director Donna Culbert said that “Suzette LeBlanc responded to the scene at approximately 11 am and reviewed affected businesses. We are all grateful no one was hurt.”

LeBlanc met with the property owner and other restaurant owners to discuss the next steps to prepare for reopening.

Culbert added, “The Health District is keenly aware of how important the businesses are to their owners, from the service they provide, their customers, their employees, and the community. We will continue working to help the businesses move forward in the way they choose and are able.”

Attonito shared that the damage to jjStacks was “total.

“We have to gut and rebuild from scratch. It’s really devastating — but we will rebuild and we will be back. The support of the community has given me such strength and motivation — we can’t wait to reopen and serve this wonderful town again.”

The Newtown Bee reached out to Ellada Mediterranean Grill, Popowich Chiropractic & Acupuncture, Lisa Mennilli Dance Academy, Giglio Landscaping, OUTCATS grooming, Immaculate Cards, and Newtown Computer Specialists — some of the other businesses in the plaza. They either denied comment or could not be reached by press time Wednesday, August 5.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.