The smell of smoldering wood and smoke forced the evacuation of JP Doyles, a popular Sleepy Hollow restaurant on June 11 at 9:30 p.m. but quick action helped avert serious damage.

“We were so busy that day with a couple of catering jobs that the oven where we make roast pork and chicken had been on all day,” said co-owner Nick Bell. “In the evening, we started to smell wood smoke. Even though we couldn’t see a flame, we evacuated the restaurant.”

When fire department crews arrived, the restaurant and the basement were filled with smoke, according to Sleepy Hollow Fire Chief John Korzelius.

“We have been there before under similar circumstances, but this time was a lot worse,” he said.

The source of the smoke was wood flooring beneath the oven that was “basically being bar-be-qued” by heat radiating from the oven through the tile floor, according to Bell and Korzelius.

“The wood in this building is almost 100 years old so its flash point is lower, meaning it takes a lot less heat to ignite,” said Korzelius. “We ripped open the floor and walls in the kitchen and hosed everything down.”

The building at 48 Beekman Avenue, which houses JP Doyles, was built in the 1920s and is owned by Bell and his business partner, Brain Doyle. Bell lives in one of three apartments above the restaurant which were not impacted by the incident.

Bell said he and Doyle acted quickly to repair the damage, replacing the flooring and buying a new stove. They reopened business the next day. His only regret is that the fire happened on a Friday night when the restaurant was full.

“People had eaten, but we didn’t get to collect the checks,” Bell said.