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Walking
the walk
PUD attorney awarded $14,050
Fish deformity study will be deciphered
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Owner indicates roofing contractor at fault in March McDonald's fire |
Owner vows to reconstruct popular restaurant into a
showplace not seen before in the Northwest |
By Schellene
Clendenin, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Schellene at
sclendenin@eaglenewspapers.com
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The cause of the blaze that destroyed the Newberg McDonald’s is
still officially undetermined, but the owner of the restaurant this
week indicated which way the investigation was leaning.
“I think all indications point toward the roofing company,” said
Mike Kennedy, whose Double K Ventures of Tigard
owns several McDonald’s restaurants, including the one at 3005
Portland Road that was reduced to charred wood on March 24.
All but two causes of the fire had been ruled out by the Yamhill
County Fire Investigation Team (YCFIT): the heating, ventilation and
air conditioning (HVAC) unit on the roof and a roofer working near
the HVAC unit at the time of the fire.
YCFIT couldn’t rule out the HVAC unit because it lacked the
technology; Kennedy said the inner workings of the unit had yet to
be eliminated as a cause, as well.
Kennedy said the roofer was repairing leaks of the tar roof. The
roofer was working with a blow torch, the fire department said.
Kennedy declined to identify even the city from which the
contractor operates, let alone the name of the company, “until
something’s disclosed.”
“I’d hate to put somebody out there when I don’t know the facts,”
he said.
Newberg Fire Marshall Chris Mayfield said in the early stages of
the investigation he had no reason to suspect anything suspicious.
Kennedy said the restaurant’s insurance company, GAB Robins, and
the insurance company of the roofing company are in discussions.
Kennedy said nothing to indicate that the insurance companies were
considering the fire’s cause as anything but accidental.
“Being a business owner we understand things happen,” Kennedy said.
“That’s why we carry insurance.”
Kennedy hopes to open a new restaurant at the location by October.
Permit applications have been submitted to the city of Newberg, he
said, adding that the new building will be “beautiful” and unlike
any other McDonald’s restaurant currently in the Northwest.
The design of the former restaurant was dangerous to firefighters
in the event of a fire, and others like it have been responsible for
killing firefighters — a point the Newberg Fire Department took into
consideration when fighting the fire. Specifically, the restaurant’s
roof was made of trusses for lightweight construction that
supported, among other things, heavy units such as the HVAC units.
Kennedy said he did not know whether the new plan takes such safety
precautions into consideration, as building plans are handled by the
corporation.
Newberg Building Official John Lindstrom said he
and Mayfield will be asking McDonalds to install fire sprinklers,
which the old building didn’t have, and to place the HVAC units
above load-bearing walls.
“That’s our hope,” Lindstrom said. “We can’t require them and we
can’t make them do it.”
Lindstrom noted that the state’s updated building codes, effective
in October, may require such safety precautions.
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From
June 23,
2004, Newberg Graphic
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