JJ Stacks Owner Says Fire Will Not Keep the Brookfield Restaurant Closed for Long
There was a fire in the kitchen of Brookfield's JJ Stacks on Monday. The blaze alarmed the employees and shutdown the business, but owner Joe Attonito says the doors will not be closed for long.
We spoke to Attonito on the Ethan and Lou Show Wednesday morning (7/7/21) and first asked about the safety of the staff and customers (Full interview in video player above). He replied:
"Thank God, everybody got out quickly. There were no issues as far as people being stuck in the building or anybody being stuck where the fire was. Everybody was able to get out, the customers were able to get out quickly and safely so, Thank God, obviously that's first and foremost that, that was the case."
Attonito said the fire happened Monday afternoon right at the beginning of the "lunch rush" on the flat top and he believes it was a grease fire.
He went on to credit his cook (Odir) who he called a "seasoned vet" for making the determination that the fire was dangerous enough that he and the staff should not try and put it out on their own.
Attonito also thanked the Brookfield Fire Department for their prompt response and gave a nod to the Town of Brookfield for their help in walking him through what he needs to get back to operating safely.
Attonito said there's been a lot of repair work since the fire and has turned this negative around in a hurry, saying:
"With a little luck, we should be up and running Friday morning. I should be able to get my guys in there tomorrow to finish the cleaning, get prepped for the weekend and hopefully we only lose this week. Unfortunately, it's been a gorgeous week, so it's unfortunate but it looks like we should be good to go Friday (7/9/21)."
Below is video of the actual fire supplied by Joe Attonito and Nikki Morrissey