Fire Burns First Floor of Lake Hiawatha Restaurant

A Lake Hiawatha Italian restaurant that had been renovated only months ago suffered major damage in a blaze Sunday that caused the first floor to collapse into the basement, according to Rick Egbert, fire chief of District 2.

No one was injured in the fire, which occurred when the restaurant was closed at about 10 a.m., Egbert said. 

The North Beverwyck Road restaurant, which served brick oven pizza, was most severely damaged on the first floor interior, where the floor gave out and ovens plummeted into the basement, Egbert said.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but an initial investigation ruled out arson.

"There's nothing at this point that would indicate it's suspicious,'' said Anthony Dezenzo, Parsippany-Troy Hills deputy chief of police.

Lake Hiawatha firefighters were performing a drill a short distance away when they were notified of smoke coming out of the building.

"We were in our gear and everything. We were here within a few minutes,'' Egbert said.

Firefighters from Districts Nos. 5 and 6 were also on the scene, in addition to squads from Boonton and Boonton Township .

Dr. Philip Santiago, a chiropractor with an office nearby, said the owner of Angelo's, which has been there for a few years, had knocked down the restaurant's old structure and had a new one constructed a few months ago.

"He's a very nice guy and they were very service-oriented at the restaurant,'' Santiago said. "I'm sure he would have had a lot of business today with catering and orders coming in. When I stopped in during the playoffs, he was getting a lot of take-out orders on Sunday.''