IKEA evacuated Sunday after cafeteria fire

A shopper rolls a cart past the entrance at an Ikea furniture store in Ottawa, on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. (Justin Tang/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

A faulty deep fryer caused a fire and forced the evacuation of Ottawa's sole IKEA location on Sunday morning.

Ottawa Fire Services told CTV News Ottawa they were called just after 11:30 a.m. to the popular furniture goods store off of Greenbank Road after a fire and smoke was seen coming from the kitchen in the cafeteria.

Staff were able to douse the fire and prevent it from spreading. Firefighters who were on scene four minutes after the initial call say there was smoke and a small amount of flames still visible when they arrived.

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Ottawa Fire spokesperson Nick DeFazio says the fire started due to grease build-up in the back of a deep-fryer that caused the fire to ignite.

A fire inspector on the scene estimates the damage to the kitchen to amount to around $20,000.

Evacuated customers were able to return to the store a short time later. The restaurant remains closed while the rest of the store continues normal operations.

"We are proud of our food team at IKEA Ottawa who quickly and effectively activated the fire suppression systems and who facilitated the efficient evacuation of the store yesterday to ensure that all customers and coworkers on site were safe and cared for," said an emailed statement by IKEA spokesperson Lisa Huie.

"We are awaiting completion of several important steps in the process following fire suppression before the safe re-opening of our restaurant. We will post updates on our local store page as they are available."

Ottawa Fire says the smoke was likely contained to the kitchen due to the heavy-duty ventilation systems in the kitchen.

An Ottawa health inspector has been called in to assess the state of the kitchen and cafeteria.