[StBernard] Rocky and Carlo's restaurant fire in Chalmette ignited spontaneously

[Westley Annis]

Rocky and Carlo's restaurant fire in Chalmette ignited spontaneously

Published: Tuesday, February 14, 2012, 6:21 PM     Updated: Tuesday,
February 14, 2012, 8:57 PM

 By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune 

The Sunday fire at iconic Rocky and Carlo's restaurant in Chalmette was
caused by spontaneous combustion, St. Bernard Parish Fire Chief Thomas Stone
said Tuesday. Rags oiled from kitchen cleaning were washed and thrown into a
laundry basket under a prep table before closing Saturday night, according
to Stone and owner Tommy Tommaseo.

Stone said the rags still had oil residue and as that oil oxidized, heat
built up, eventually causing the rags' ignition.

The fire department has ruled it an accident, and estimated it caused
$225,000 worth of damage.

Tommaseo said the restaurant has insurance and that he hopes to reopen by
mid-April, serving the eatery's famously overflowing piles of baked macaroni
and cheese smothered in brown or red gravy, veal parmigiana, potato salad,
stuffed bell peppers and roast beef poboys, along with other Creole-Italian
fare.

"We'll get running in a few months," said Tommaseo, whose late father Rocky
Tommaseo opened the place in 1965 along with childhood friend Carlo Gioe.
"We're shooting for two months. We'll be three months at the most."

Stone said his department worked alongside the parish Sheriff's Office, the
State Fire Marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives, and that he asked for the other agencies' assistance "as it's
such an icon of St. Bernard that we wanted to make sure we all agreed."

Newly-elected St. Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta echoed the
restaurant's importance to the community.

"It's a landmark. It is St. Bernard," he said.

While the whole restaurant sustained damage because of heavy soot and smoke,
the rear of the kitchen and its ceiling are the worst off. Crews tore out
drywall Tuesday afternoon.

Tragedy is nothing new for the restaurant at 613 W. St. Bernard Highway. It
opened the year Betsy hit, and quickly ingrained itself in the community by
remaining open throughout that storm, allowing people to sleep on its floor.

On the day Hurricane Katrina struck, Aug. 29, 2005, Rocky & Carlo's was
serving customers until 3 p.m. Though it had no flood insurance at the time
and received 4 feet of water after the levees breached, the restaurant
reopened in February 2007.

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