Vasco Owner Paul Lazzareschi Hopes to Keep Closure Brief After Backup Generator Sparks Fire – Stay Tuned

Vasco owner Paul Lazzareschi was one of the few restaurant owners in downtown Mill Valley whose eatery stayed open during the early hours of PG&E’s Public Safety Power Shutoff Sunday night.

​But he’ll have to wait a bit before he can reopen since the power came back on, as a fire broke out in Vasco’s kitchen in the early hours of Monday morning, according to Southern Marin Fire officials. 

Lazzareschi says he set up a portable generator just outside his restaurant to power his walk-in refrigerator to keep his food inventory cold overnight, but the generator’s heat bore through the stucco wall leading to his kitchen and sparked the fire. The fire was reported just before 8 a.m. at the restaurant at 106 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley fire Batallion Chief Scott Barnes told the Marin Independent Journal.

Authorities shut down the intersection of Throckmorton and Miller Avenues at Bernard Street, the IJ reported, as crews extinguished the fire. No one was injured. 
There were no reported injuries.

Vasco sustained approximately $10,000 in damage, and Lazzareschi says he hopes to keep his closure brief – “hopefully 7-10 days.”

Here’s an ABC 7 news report on the incident:

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