A fire in the kitchen of the Beef Bar restaurant in Fontvieille broke out on the evening of Thursday, May 17, at about 21:40.

The restaurant was immediately evacuated, in calm, and there were no injuries to either staff or diners. Firefighters from Monaco were deployed to the scene in several vehicles, including three fire engines, a ladder and a fire ambulance.

“When I saw the flames at the back of the kitchen, I immediately evacuated the restaurant, it was full but everything was quiet in a few seconds,” Riccardo Giraudi, owner of the Beef Bar, said. He added that he believes the damage to the premises was quite significant.

An hour after the beginning of the disaster, the boss welcomes in the first place the absence of a victim. He thinks the damage will be important.

“The flames were quickly extinguished, and it was smoke that caused the most damage,” said Maxime Yvrard, the senior officer on duty at the Fire Department.

According to firefighters, the fire was triggered in a hood, before spreading to a nearby technical room. A cook tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher but was not able to control the flames.

For the commander Yvrard, this operation is mainly technical: “The fire was not virulent, but it generated a lot of smoke, and now it is necessary to evacuate it without disturbing neighbouring homes.”

The intervention was to last part of the evening. Firefighters will return to the scene every two hours. For security purposes.