Above: Flames coming from Finn’s Harborside Friday night (3/1/24). Photo courtesy of EGFD

This story was updated 3/2/24 at 1:50 p.m. 

A fire burned part of the iconic Finn’s Harborside restaurant late Friday night, according to fire officials. EG firefighters got several phone calls just past 11 p.m. from area residents who could see flames on the north side of the Water Street restaurant. 

The visible blaze was put down quickly but smaller fires that had worked their way inside the older structure took longer to ferret out, according to Lt. Bob Gardner, who served as acting captain in charge Friday night. 

“First thing we did, we got a 2 ½ inch line from the truck and that knocked the fire down pretty quickly,” Gardner said. There were people still in the restaurant who were unaware of the fire initially. No one was injured. 

The state fire marshal said it appeared to be a grease fire, much like the grease fire that resulted in total destruction of the (coincidentally named) Harborside Inn on Block Island last August. The official determination of the cause is still under investigation.

“We were lucky to have four people responding,” said Gardner about the initial response. “More often than not, on a Friday night, the rescues might be out.” 

“A little bit of quick action and a little bit of luck,” said Gardner. 

In addition to Gardner, the initial firefighters on the scene were Peter O’Donnell on Engine 1 and Lt. Ryan Grady and Firefighter Shane Newton from Rescue 1. 

EGFD Engine 2 and Ladder 1 showed up five or six minutes after the intial responders. Warwick came with three engines, a ladder truck, a rescue, and a special hazards truck, as well as Battalion Chief Mark Savaria.

Michael Monaghan, EGFD’s director of communications, assisted the state fire marshal.

The fire damage was limited to that north side of the building, although Gardner acknowledged part of the inside was damaged in fighting the fire. 

The Finn’s Harborside Facebook page said only the restaurant would be closed because of fire damage.