Landmark burns
Published 10:15 pm Friday, April 6, 2007
By By KATHIE HEMPEL / Niles Daily Star
NILES – "It's the scariest thing a restaurant owner can imagine."
Philip Mark stood looking at the charred remains of the restaurant his parents began over 40 years ago. He is still in shock.
Happy House, the popular Niles Chinese restaurant at 3121 S. 11th in Niles Township, is no more.
"A friend called me at home and told me that my restaurant was shown in flames on the morning television news. I just rushed down," he said.
Firefighters from Niles Township, City of Niles, Bertrand and Clay Townships responded to the call that came in just after 4 a.m. today. Howard Township was on standby at the Niles Township location.
"By the time the firefighters arrived the building was totally involved. When you have a structure as close by as the Stephens Motel is, you put a water curtain between the buildings to divert the heat," Firefighter Dale Rieder said.
Rieder, manning the phones at the Niles Township Fire Department, was getting reports from the scene at press time. He said that Commanding Officer, Lt. Marc Brandon was still on the scene as firefighters began digging through the rubble to investigate the cause.
According to John Orsini, who lives next door at Stephens Motel, the fire started shortly before 4 a.m.
"I was awake when I heard the sirens. I looked out and saw that the restaurant was on fire. The wind was from the north so I knew we had some time. I was already getting my clothes on when the owner of the motel called to tell me," Orsini said.
Bob Cowan, owner of the Dairy Queen a few doors away, approached Mark in tears. The two stared silently at the smoking ruins.
"We've survived so much… the tornado… I remember Bob's sign and air conditioner came by," Mark said.
"The tornado was October 2001. I remember. My wife and I were just driving in and saw the trucks," Cowan said.
Cowan put his arm around his friend.
"We were going to have a big party just after Easter. The reservations…," Mark said, his voice trailing off.
The restaurant had closed Sunday for vacation. It was scheduled to reopen just after Easter.
Mark did not know what kind of insurance the restaurant had in place. His brother David handles that end of the business. His sister Kathy Yuen works with the brothers.
The Fire Marshall with the Michigan State Police out of Paw Paw will be arriving on the scene later today, according to Rieder.