September 26, 2011 in City

Night blaze damages pair of iconic eateries

Flames at Milk Bottle spread to Ferguson’s

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Flames roll from the roof of Ferguson’s Cafe late Sunday as fire crews work to contain a blaze in the Garland District of Spokane. The flames spread to the cafe from Mary Lou’s Milk Bottle next door.
(Full-size photo)

Two historic Garland District restaurants – one a Depression-era icon and the other a popular diner featured in several Hollywood films – were heavily damaged Sunday night by fire.

Spokane firefighters initially tried battling the three-alarm blaze inside Mary Lou’s Milk Bottle, 802 W. Garland Ave., but they had to pull back as heavy flames spread around them and over to Ferguson’s Cafe next door, authorities said.

Crews began spraying protective foam in an effort to keep the flames contained.

“Our concern was stopping it from spreading down the whole block,” Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams said.

The orange glow of rolling flames was visible from several blocks away, drawing more than 100 people to the scene to watch the firefighters work, with many snapping pictures. Authorities were alerted to the fire at 8:42 p.m.

Ferguson’s Cafe owner Dave Jones stood near the fire command post Sunday night watching intently as passers-by offered their condolences. He appeared devastated.

The owners of Mary Lou’s Milk Bottle had left town Sunday. But their son, Dan Ritchie, hurried to the scene after being advised of the fire and was standing by as firefighters sought to keep the blaze from spreading. The restaurant, with its iconic milk bottle shape, is one of Spokane’s most recognizable commercial district landmarks.

Williams said the cause of the fire remained under investigation, adding that there was a report of an earlier explosion but no confirmation. Witnesses also said they saw a downed power line arcing between the buildings.

Ferguson’s Cafe, which closed in 2009 but was later reopened, was featured in three movies, “Vision Quest,” “Benny & Joon” and “Why Would I Lie?” Ferguson’s first opened in the 1930s.

Nine comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  ChefGus/ John Olsen on September 26 at 6:09 a.m.

  A link to the first article with comments attached:

  http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/sep/25/garland-district-cafe-burning/

  J

• 

  vanessad on September 26 at 6:35 a.m.

  This is sad; I hope the owners of both establishments re-open. Every time I come home to Spokane, Ferguson’s is always a favorite stop, and the milk bottle has been an iconic part of Spokane.

  My thoughts are with the owners and employees of the Milk Bottle and Ferguson’s.

• 

  reservedparking on September 26 at 6:53 a.m.

  I find it astounding that a customer of this website has to be the one to provide links to earlier versions & comments on this and many other stories.

  Thanks, Mr. Olsen, for taking the time. I appreciate it.
  Any response, S-R web folks?

• 

  Albert on September 26 at 6:59 a.m.

  Thank you SFD for your outstanding response and service.

• 

  misjustice on September 26 at 7:33 a.m.

  Thanks SFD; had the fire started earlier when the winds were high, the entire district could have been destroyed.

• 

  SpokyDaBear on September 26 at 7:50 a.m.

  Then you think it is okay to wait 45 minutes for your breakfast when you are the only group of customers in the empty place and the service staff is too busy talking on their cell phones to do their job?

• 

  dmartin on September 26 at 7:51 a.m.

  Ferguson’s makes the best pancakes in spokane been going there for a while good food = good prices hope they re- build i am hungrey for them panckes

• 

  FutureMan on September 26 at 8:36 a.m.

  SpokyDaBear, It looks like you had a bad experience, and to be frustrated is understandable, but your timing for such a complaint is completely wrong. I’ve been going to Ferguson’s for years and can tell you honestly that moments like that are VERY few and far between. My father-in-law had a similar story to yours one time and was frustrated enough to almost not come back, but a single bad employee can ruin an entire establishment’s reputation, which he understood. He decided to give it another shot, and although he never complained about his bad experience, he never received poor service like that again and it became his favorite breakfast spot. My point is that you can’t blame a restaurant for crappy service based on one unfortunate experience, and to do so right after such a tragic event is in poor taste.

• 

  vanessad on September 26 at 12:14 p.m.

  I hope both businesses are able to rebuild soon. It’s great to see that so many people in the community support these iconic businesses, and it’s too bad that some people have to kick the victims of this tragedy when they are down.

  I agree with (most) of the comments; Ferguson’s was a great breakfast spot, and the Milk Bottle made delicious ice cream. Both of these businesses are a part of Spokane’s history, and I hope the fire hasn’t gotten the better of them.