Thursday morning fire at Wichita restaurant looked worse than it was, owner says

Fire trucks surrounded Wine Dive, the restaurant at 4714 E. Douglas owned by brothers Brad and Brent Steven, on Thursday morning, but the scene looked much worse to passers-by than it was, the owners say.

Still, the restaurant may be closed for a bit while crews clean up and repairs are made.

Brad Steven said that about five employees were in the restaurant on Thursday morning at about 10:30 a.m. when an outlet sparked behind the grill, igniting flames on the grill. The employees tried to put the fire out but alerted the Wichita Fire Department, who arrived quickly and doused the fire with chemical spray, he said.

There was no structural damage, Steven said, but some pipes and other equipment will have to be repaired and inspected before the restaurant can reopen.

“It was nothing major, which is good,” he said. “The hardest part right now is just getting things done so we can reopen and get those minor things repaired and everything inspected.”

He said he’s not sure how long the restaurant will have to remain closed but said he would post updates on social media.

Wine Dive recently launched a big remodel, but none of that work was affected by Thursday’s fire, he said.