HADDON TWP., N.J. (WPVI) — A devastating weekend fire has decimated a popular diner in Haddon Township, New Jersey. And while the investigation continues into a cause, residents are cautiously optimistic that they’re favorite eating place isn’t gone forever.

Residents around the Westmont area of Haddon Township are sad to learn of the 2-alarm fire that gutted the Crystal Lake Diner on Cuthbert Boulevard – a local landmark with its signature red roof for more than 20 years.

“It’s just a shame because it was a good place to eat and a lot of people came here and they are really going to miss it. I hope they rebuild,” said Rich Riley of Collingswood.

Owner Tony Vasilakis didn’t want to say much today, but he did tell me he hopes to rebuild.

“We have to be back again,” he said.

Louis Alberta of Collingswood tells us, “I’m devastated. I mean Facebook is blowing up, text messages are blowing up with people talking about it. That’s why I came to take pictures to send to people who don’t live here anymore.”

The fire was reported at 11:47 Sunday night when Vasilakis and several employees were closing up for the evening. Fire officials say the blaze started in the diner’s basement and quickly spread.

Haddon Township resident Judy Spell says, “Oh it was hot. It was really cooking. The flames just started shooting out of the rooftop so it looked like it was coming from the kitchen area.”

Haddon Township Police Chief Mark Cavallo tells Action News, “We don’t know the cause at this point. The Camden County Fire Marshal’s Office along with Haddon Township Fire Marshal, they’re still sifting through the debris. We don’t believe at this point that there’s anything suspicious about this fire.”

Because the first floor collapsed into the basement, heavy machinery had to be called in to pull equipment out so fire investigators could get into examine the fire’s point of origin.

While the investigation continues officials are also making sure that the spoiled food ruined in the fire is removed so it doesn’t smell or create a public health problem.

Original Story

The Crystal Lake Diner, a fixture for decades in Haddon Township, Camden County, was destroyed in a fire that began Sunday night and burned into early this morning.
Chief County Fire Marshal Paul Sandrock said the fire began about 11 p.m. Sunday in the basement, which is used for storage. Employees were inside at the time but no injuries were reported.

“The employees were just wrapping up for the night. The owner was also there when the fire was discovered,” Sandrock said. The owner called 911.

Responding crews, however, were hampered in fighting the fire.

“The fire department was able to access the basement,” Sandrock said. “But the first floor collapsed into the basement and they had to retreat.”

The fire was brought under control around 1 a.m. But after two hours of burning, the interior of the restaurant appeared gutted, or at least severely damaged. The inside was blackened and filled with smoke, with only the stainless steel equipment still glistening. Windows were smashed.

The building on the 500 block of West Cuthbert Boulevard is in the township’s Westmont section. It is next to Freddy’s Liquors, and situated near the top of a hill across from Newton Lake Park. It has been a diner for at least 21 years. The Vasilakis family is listed on property records as the owner of the site, which one housed a Chinese restaurant.

A sign out front long-familiar to passing motorists reads: Crystal Lake Diner / Open 24 Hours / Baking on Premises.

The cause of the fire had not yet been determined as of early this morning.

Original story at Philly.com

Renovations at the neighborhood landmark are nearly complete, and owners say the eatery could be open by the end of the year at the earliest.

It’s been more than two years since the Crystal Lake Diner was gutted by a fire.

A stray spark from a compressor in the basement walk-in found its tinder in the paper products nearby.

The heat burned away the floor of the kitchen above, which collapsed into the lower level of the building.

Firefighters from four towns filled the parking lot for three hours putting out the flames. Settling on an amount to cover the cost of repairs took months.

Now, however, the Exadaktilos family can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Owner Anthony Exadaktilos, 74, opened the diner April 1, 1990, selling the Mt. Holly Diner on Route 38, which he’d operated for 17 years, to do it. Exadaktilos also once owned the Newton Diner in Oaklyn and the Point 40 Diner in Monroeville, where his daughter took a job after the fire. His son, Anthony Exadaktilos, Jr., joined another uncle at the Harrison House Diner in Mullica Hill.

In the interim, “my dad’s been here trying to piecemeal everything together,” Exadaktilos, Jr. said.

The insurance battle delayed a reconstruction further complicated by code upgrades that obligated redesign of the diner’s restrooms, handicap ramp, and counter. Water main improvements are also coming to its parking lot.

Inside, the layout of the diner remains “pretty much the same,” Exadaktilos, Jr. said; one booth in the front dining area will be sacrificed to make room for a bakery case at the register. The doorway framing the rear dining room, which used to divide the eatery’s smoking and nonsmoking sections, has been widened.

An updated interior features textured wallpaper, granite countertops, stainless steel light fixtures, and laminate flooring. Natural colors and a neutral feel permeate a space that Exadaktilos, Jr. said aspires to a timeless look.

“We believe that this will be here in 20 years,” he said. “Ninety-five percent of the place is new, so everything’s going to be energy-efficient. It’s going to run as before. We’re going to be happy.”

The kitchen will produce a familiar menu in keeping with the tastes of a broad base of regulars, but Exadaktilos, Jr. also promised “some new things; maybe some twists on things.

“You want to cater to your seniors, to your diner clientele, but our goal here is also to cater to our generation,” he said.

A key change will be its limited hours: 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

Equidistant from 24-hour Wawas in Oaklyn and Haddon Township and adjacent to late-night fast-food drive-thrus, the diner already had seen dwindling business in its once-lucrative overnight hours before the fire.

Exadaktilos, Jr. said an effort is underway to rehire former employees. Applications are being accepted for chefs, line cooks, and front-of-house staff, while equipment deliveries and a new point-of-sale system remain to be sorted out.

“We’re not far away [from reopening], but we know that stuff takes time,” Exadaktilos, Jr. said. “We just want to let people know that we are coming back, hopefully in the next few months, if things go smoothly.”

The community has been supportive during the rebuild, he said, with messages of support communicated electronically through the diner’s Facebook page, and in person from regulars who checked in on his father during the renovations. The family “can’t wait to be back in business.

“This is his baby,” Exadaktilos, Jr. said of his father. “He’s passing it on to my sister and me, and we want to continue that tradition and make him proud, especially with a nice fresh start.”

Original Story – NJPen.com