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Santa Monica Daily Press FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2015
Volume 14 Issue 182
SAMOHI REUNION SEE PAGE 5
Fire causes closure of Tar & Roses Santa Monica Boulevard shut down to traffic during response
Council permits taller early childhood center
BY JEFFREY I. GOODMAN
BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON
Daily Press Staff Writer
Daily Press Staff Writer
SANTA MONICA BLVD. A popular Santa Monica restaurant has closed temporarily following a fire that was caused by heat from its woodburning oven, fire officials said. Crews responded to Tar & Roses, located at 602 Santa Monica Blvd., at about 4 p.m. Wednesday to extinguish a fire that broke out in the space above the restaurant. Heat from the flue got into the attic space of the multi-story building, which is on the south side of the boulevard between 6th and 7th streets. The incident occurred before business hours and did not result in any injuries, but it required extensive attention because the long flue — which runs through office space on the second floor — was not easily accessible to firefighters, officials said. “Thankfully, no staff were injured and there was minimal damage,” a restaurant spokeswoman wrote in a statement in response to a Daily Press inquiry. “T&R is temporarily closed while we work quickly to clean up and reopen our doors as soon as possible.” Meanwhile, electricity was turned off to affected businesses until electricians could assess damage and do repairs, fire officials said. The fire remains under investigation. “This ends up not being a tremendous loss, although it could have been at a different time of day,” Battalion Chief Carl Bjerke wrote in a memo. “We were able to confine the fire to the shaft work, with minimal collateral structural damage. Most of the significance is related to the time and effort it took to locate and completely extinguish the fire as well as the impact on the affected businesses and traffic downtown.” The response team included
CIVIC CENTER After some debate over lease restrictions for the proposed early childhood education center, City Council unanimously approved amended guidelines for the project. The proposed building height will jump from 25 feet to 40 feet, allowing 10 more kids to attend the program, which will be run by Santa Monica College. Council agreed on the height changes for the project, which is scheduled to break ground in 2017, but argued over other restrictions. SEE CENTER PAGE 8
Council moves minimum wage plans forward BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL Not to be outdone by its
routes were also disrupted. The building, which is across from the Santa Monica Public Library’s main branch, includes restaurants, businesses and offices
neighbor to the east (and north and south), City Council asked city officials to draft an ordinance, like the one put forth by Los Angeles, that would raise minimum wage. Los Angeles plans to raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020. City Councilmembers Gleam Davis, Sue Himmelrich and Tony Vazquez put the item on the agenda. Council voted unanimously to move the process forward. In September, council directed city officials to watch L.A.’s progress as it wrestled with the pay boost. “The city of Los Angeles, obviously being the big player in the region, had to move it,” Davis said,
SEE FIRE PAGE 9
SEE WAGES PAGE 5
Photos by Jeffrey I. Goodman jeff@smdp.com
STRUCTURE FIRE: Santa Monica authorities responded to a fire that began Wednesday afternoon at Tar & Roses.
more than 20 people on scene as well as four engines and a truck whose ladder extension was used to help firefighters access the roof of the building. Crews also worked from inside the restaurant. Santa Monica firefighters were
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assisted by the Los Angeles and Culver City fire departments. Santa Monica Boulevard was closed between 5th and 7th streets and parts of 6th Street were blocked off by authorities, snarling traffic in the downtown area. Bus
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