OKLAHOMA CITY — A long-term favorite of Classen Ten-Penn and Midtown OKC had a scare Wednesday but only sustained some light smoke damage from an electrical box next door.
According to Capt. John Chenoweth, assistant PIO in the Oklahoma City Fire Department, four fire companies turned out for the call in the 1900 block of N. Classen Boulevard a little after 1 p.m. The building houses several businesses, including a long-term favorite, Cafe Antigua.
However, when they arrived, they soon found that it was an electrical box that had overheated from rainwater dripping down on it.
A few other small items close to the box in the utility room caught fire, but the white smoke from the electrical box smoldering was the biggest issue.
Firefighters quickly removed smoldering items, shut off power, and started using exhaust fans to get the smoke out of the parts of the building affected.
“The biggest section, 1901 N. Classen, was where the problem was,” said Chenoweth. “The other storefronts just had a little smoke. Cafe Antigua and those other businesses on the north end of that building still have power.”
The owners of the beloved cafe, Anna and Luigi Del Cid, talked with Free Press about the incident.
“All of our customers and employees got so scared right now,” said Anna, who was running the restaurant at the time. “And, thankfully, everyone’s okay.”
Luigi, who co-founded and operates their other restaurant, Cafe Kacao, about 10 blocks north, was in their office even further away and was relieved when he arrived to find everyone was scared but okay. “I’m very relieved,” he said.
“Thankfully, we can say the restaurant is okay,” Anna said.
Chenoweth said that when they left the scene, their understanding was that OG&E was on their way to check everything for safety and start getting the power back on.
Brett is the founder, and editor in chief of Oklahoma City Free Press. He continues to contribute reporting and photography to the efforts of the publication as well as leadership in developing support.
