Uncle Fatih’s brief closure last week was due to a sprinkler malfunction.
On November 26, Uncle Fatih’s on University Blvd was forced to close after sprinklers went off in the building and soaked through the restaurant’s ceiling.
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) issued a closure notice on the same day.
Uncle Fatih’s marketing manager Naz McCarney said the restaurant didn’t know why the sprinkler went off, despite rumours of a fire in the building.
George Poliusuk of Wesbrook Properties said that the sprinkler system within commercial and residential properties was “naturally highly sensitive” and that one sprinkler system on the third floor went off during a preventative maintenance procedure.
“Our fire safety contractor has since assessed and replaced this particular sprinkler,” wrote Poliusuk in an email statement to The Ubyssey.
The fire department, VCH, and UBC’s management performed check ups on the building before Uncle Fatih’s was able to reopen.
“There was a straightforward clean up on the weekend in terms of getting everything dry. All of the countertops, the floors, making sure that we took care of all of the water that was coming down from the ceiling,” said Naz.
Although there were no instances of heat damage in the building, the fire department investigated the equipment, such as light fixtures and kitchen facilities, to make sure there was no faulty wiring or damages in the kitchen after the sprinklers went off. VCH followed to make sure everything was “clean and sanitized and ready for production.”
“Once we got the okay [from all three of those departments] on Monday, we were good to go for Tuesday morning,” said Naz.
The restaurant reopened on Monday, November 29.