Solana Beach
A restaurant was destroyed early Wednesday by a fire that started when workers refinishing a sushi bar in the building used gasoline to clean their paintbrushes, firefighters said.
The fire, which was fought by 60 firefighters from 17 engine companies, damaged the Samurai restaurant and six adjoining businesses in the 700 block of Old Highway 101, according to Fire Marshal Dallas E. Neville.
Thomas L. Paris, 19, one of three workers inside the restaurant, was treated at Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas for second-degree burns on his leg, Neville said.
Fire investigators said the blaze began when gasoline vapors were ignited by a pilot light on a water heater, Neville said. The workers used the gasoline to clean their paintbrushes after they ran out of turpentine, he said. The restaurant was declared a total loss.
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