Fire sweeps through Boston Pizza
Restaurant has only been open two weeks

Sunday, March 9, 2008
By Mike Johnston and Jennifer Stone

BOWMANVILLE – Cory Luedtke sat in his car Sunday morning, trying to stay warm, still in disbelief just hours after fire swept through his newly-opened restaurant.

“I have two other Boston Pizza restaurants in Ajax and Peterborough and I have never had any issues like this,” he said, as firefighters made sure all the hot spots were out at the business located on Hwy. 2 in Bowmanville.

The restaurant was to celebrate its third week in business this Tuesday but instead Mr. Luedtke and his partners, Barb and Larry Cadwell from Clarington, will be working with insurance adjusters and the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office to get the business open as quickly as possible.

Firefighters were called to the newly-constructed restaurant in front of the new Home Depot around 5:30 a.m. Sunday, and remained on the scene at 11:30 a.m., putting out "spot fires in the roof," said Clarington Fire Chief Gord Weir.

The restaurant sustained significant smoke and water damage, he reported.

The cause is not yet known.

While no dollar figure had been determined in terms of damage estimate, "it's going to be substantial," said Chief Weir.

Mr. Luedtke, who lives in Toronto, was staying with his parents in Ajax when the alarm company called him.

“My father and I drove here right away, you never expect something like this too happen.

“The main thing is this happened when no one was here. No one was hurt. You can always rebuild,” said Mr. Luedtke.

He said the restaurant, which had seen many busy nights, was ready for the March Break.

“The kitchen isn’t in great shape and the rest of the building is damaged from water, smoke and soot. We are going to open as quickly as possible to serve the Bowmanville community,” he said.

Ive heard that the police are on to someone that has been responsable for many fires in the durham region. I think they said 6 fires are linked to this one person. Lets hope this is true and they catch the creep. I would hate to see more houses go up because of some dumbass.

Having eaten at Boston Pizza once before, I can totally understand why someone would want to set fire to one.

Posted by IanK1968 Ive heard that the police are on to someone that has been responsable for many fires in the durham region. I think they said 6 fires are linked to this one person. Lets hope this is true and they catch the creep. I would hate to see more houses go up because of some dumbass.

I would also hate to see someone get killed or maimed because of some dumbass as well!

I was at the new Home Depot today buying some caulk (try say that out loud to random people on the street) and decided to watch the demo of the arsoned Boston Pizza. They hope to be rebuilt in time for September or so. Here are some pictures...