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Popular Galveston restaurant gutted by fire

Dibella's owner vows to rebuild

08:20 PM CST on Monday, January 26, 2009

By Chris Paschenko / Daily News

GALVESTON — As firefighters shuttled priceless family photographs from a burned and flooded restaurant Monday, Charles DiBella vowed to rebuild the Italian eatery he’s owned for 19 years.
Three people were injured when smoke and flames consumed the second-story of DiBella's Italian Restaurant at 1902 31st St.

THE DAILY NEWS

A woman who lived above the restaurant escaped by the back stairs and was taken to Mainland Medical Center for treatment of smoke inhalation, police and firefighters said.

One firefighter suffered minor burns around his ears and another fell from a ladder as crews tried to bring the blaze under control. Neither required medical treatment, said Galveston Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Jens Jensen.

A construction worker from San Antonio, who couldn’t sleep in his first night in his Galveston apartment, went outside about 4:30 a.m. to retrieve a pack of cigarettes from his truck and noticed smoke coming from the building.

Jeff Goodwin went to the rear stairwell to see if he could help.

“I called 911 and saw a young lady come out,” Goodwin said. “She came out of nowhere from that smoke.”

THE DAILY NEWS

A firefighter sifts through the charred debris inside Dibella's.


Firefighters arrived, finding flames shooting from the upstairs windows. They rushed inside and tried to attack the blaze and search for occupants, but the heat and flames quickly sent them to a defensive mode to protect nearby homes, Jensen said.

The fire was mostly knocked down within 30 minutes, and an hour into the endeavor smoke billowed from a shell of a second floor.

“I’ve waited tables there for 17 years,” said Nanette Crouch, as tears streamed from her eyes. “It’s like a second home. We just got back open a couple months ago.”

Hurricane Ike’s Sept. 13 landfall, which flooded the island and damaged much of the upper Texas coast, inundated the ground-floor restaurant, which Frank Marczak helped rebuild.

DiBella said his restaurant was insured and that he would rebuild as soon as possible.

“We got all the photos and family pictures out,” DiBella said, as employees placed them in the rear of Goodwin’s pickup. “We’ll probably have to take the top off. We’ll just have to see what it looks like downstairs.”

THE DAILY NEWS

Manager Jan Maddin, center, stands with DiBella's Italian Restaurant owner Charles Dibella and an employee following a fire early Monday.


Sgt. Tim Buck, who had his wedding rehearsal dinner there, said the restaurant was a special place frequented by locals. DiBella said he had many regular customers from out of town as well.

It was unclear whether a dog and bird survived the fire. Fire Marshal Gilbert Robinson said he would investigate what caused the blaze.

Goodwin, who lives across the street, said he hadn’t yet tried the restaurant, and was looking forward to sitting down for a Wednesday special.

Marczak carried the dry-erase menu board listing the previous day’s special to Goodwin’s truck, and said the filet stuffed with lump crab, pasta primavera and German chocolate cake would be the special when the restaurant reopens.

This story is available through KHOU, Ch. 11's partnership with The Galveston County Daily News.