At 11 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 3, fire crews were still working to put out a fire reported hours earlier at Shaw’s Restaurant and the neighboring furniture store.
The Santa Maria Fire Department responded to the fire at 5:45 a.m., according to Battalion Chief Tony Clayburg. Despite “aggressive” efforts to put out the fire, it spread inside the building that houses both Shaw’s and Sergio’s Furniture and Mattress, Clayburg said as smoke billowed from the building across South Broadway.
“The fire extended quickly and rapidly, consumed the furniture store,” he said. “We did call for a second alarm early, which is three additional engines, an additional truck company, and battalion chief.”
Clayburg said that first responders described the initial burn as a “rubbish fire” up against the building. The blaze grew to destroy two-thirds of Shaw’s before crews stopped the fire’s spread into the restaurant, he said, but the furniture store was a “total loss.”
Santa Maria and Santa Barbara County fire department investigators will each conduct investigations into the cause, Clayburg added.
The Santa Maria Police Department closed down the section of South Broadway between Morrison and Cook streets to allow fire crews to surround the structure. Broadway’s gutters flowed with water and floating pieces of charred wood and debris as residents watched and recorded the event on their phones.
Shaw’s Restaurant is well known as one of the area’s longtime providers of Santa Maria-style barbecue. The steakhouse is owned by Guggia Enterprises, which owns several local eateries, including the neighboring restaurant, The Pantry.
Furniture store owner Sergio Diaz stood with family in The Pantry parking lot, watching fire crews shoot streams of water into his burning business. Diaz opened the location two years ago and has been in business since 1992, he said.
“This has destroyed the entire building,” Diaz said. “We’re just very happy that nobody got hurt. Merchandise can be replaced.”
This article appears in Jan 3-10, 2019.