Relative is optimistic restaurant will return
PICO BLVD. — An afternoon fire at a popular Santa Monica restaurant on Tuesday injured six people and placed a 38-year-old family owned business in limbo.
The blaze — reported at approximately 2:46 p.m. — spread from the kitchen area of the second floor of Lares Restaurant, 2909 Pico Boulevard, and caused extensive damage to one of the city’s most famous dining establishments. It took firefighters 20 minutes to locate and extinguish the flames.
According to Santa Monica Fire Department Battalion Chief Kent Coble, the fire left six injured and caused approximately $200,000 in damages to the building.
Coble said six companies, roughly 30 firefighters, responded to the scene at 2:47 p.m., entering the restaurant from both the front and rear, facing knee-high smoke. They used two hand lines and roof ventilation to put out the fire, which sparked from a second-story kitchen greaser and quickly channeled through a chimney to the rooftop. The fire was extinguished by 3:07 p.m.
Coble said there were five civilian injuries related to smoke inhalation and one firefighter injury. Of the injured civilians, four were released on the scene, with one being transported by ambulance to the Santa Monica- UCLA Medical Center.
Coble believed one of the injured civilians was a restaurant owner who suffered from smoke-related symptoms after trying to help put out the fire, and was released at the scene.
The firefighter’s injury was eye-related, according to the battalion chief, but it remained unclear how exactly the injury occurred.
Rosie Lares — related to the restaurant’s owners, Jesse and Aurora Lares — said she was driving on Pico Boulevard when she noticed smoke and people exiting the building.
“Everyone was trying to get out,” Rosie Lares said. “I was concerned with trying to put the fire out.”
She said she went inside her home, adjacent to the restaurant, and grabbed a hose and sprayed water on the fire until firefighters arrived at the scene.
Lino Lares — who owns Pico Barber, just east of Lares Restaurant at 2905 Pico Boulevard, and is also related to Jesse and Aurora — said it was the success of his relatives’ restaurant which first inspired him to go into business for himself.
“I saw how hard (Jesse and Aurora) worked, and it made me want go into business for myself,” Lino Lares said. “Now, that whole dream has gone up in smoke. I hope we can recover.”
Manuel Lares, a relative also at the scene, said although the damage was extensive, he was optimistic his family’s business would recover quickly.
“We are experienced restaurateurs,” he said. “We will re-open quickly, and the restaurant is going to look like new.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 18, 2005. Read the original PDF.