CAMDEN — The lunch crew was getting ready to open Scott’s Place, at the Reny’s Shopping Plaza, on July 25 when a small yet persistent fire on the back of the grill refused to be extinguished. At first, the cooks thought the fire was between the boards of the small take-out building, which sits close to Route 1, and there was a fear flames had spread into the walls.

Camden firefighters arrived, and determined the fire was in the grill itself, which is used to cook hamburgers and hotdogs.

Cooking oils and residue had apparently built up in the back of the grill, and the heat from today’s stove ignition was just enough to spark the accumulation under the cook top into fire.

The grill was connected to a gas tank beside the take-out, and firefighters turned off the gas, bled the line, and then removed the grill – with a small flame still burning —to the outside, where they slashed through built-up grease and eventually extinguished the fire.

They then investigated the walls to see if fire had spread, but it had not.

Firefighters used fire extinguishers to initially douse the flames inside the building before hauling out the cook top.

Camden Fire Chief Chris Farley attributed it all to grease build-up.

“Fortunately, that’s all that burned,” he said. “Both in restaurants and at home, clean the grease from your stoves and ovens.”

Scott’s Place will reopen as soon as the kitchen is put back together, hopefully by Wednesday, crews said.

 Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657