By John Garlock, Printed with permission from KTVO Channel 3 News
EDINA, Mo. — A small Friday morning fire damaged a northeast Missouri bar and grill that had risen from the ashes of a December 2022 fire.
The fire was discovered around 7:15 a.m. at the Blue Room in Edina.
No damage is visible from the outside, but the restaurant has smoke damage throughout.
The flames were contained to the furnace room, where Edina Firefighter Alan Morgret says the fire apparently started due to a malfunctioning furnace.
Morgret told KTVO that the flames were out by the time firefighters arrived. Crews used ventilation fans to clear the smoke from the building.
Blue Room Owner Chris Moubry, of Edina, described what he and his son found when they arrived to open the business early Friday morning.
“I went and unlocked the second door, and when I did, it just, just the heat, I’m mean, just ‘Boom,’ Moubry said. “I hollered at him (his son) and I said, ‘Get ahold of somebody.’ I said, ‘I think it’s on fire. It is so hot in here.’ I looked back in there, and it was smoke as far as you could see.”
The fire has been ruled accidental.
Fire crews told Moubry there is no structural damage to his building, so that’s at least some good news.
Now it’s just a matter of getting professional cleaning crews to go over every square inch of the interior.
It’s unknown how long the cleanup will take, but Moubry does plan to reopen the Blue Room after that is finished.
Moubry said the two-year-old furnace that caught fire had frozen up a couple of times in recent days.
The newly rebuilt restaurant opened in November 2023, almost a year after a blaze destroyed the previous building.
The Baring Volunteer Fire Department assisted the Edina Fire Department at the scene of Friday morning’s fire.
