MADISON (WKOW) -- Just a little after 1 a.m. Sunday morning, a dumpster and car fire behind the Nitty Gritty lit the building. The extent of the damage is not yet known, but the owners and management are hopeful.
"It's an establishment," said long-time customer Peter Tempelis. "It's a Madison original, and we want to keep it that way."
Nitty Gritty staff and owners are still working with the Madison Fire Department to determine the extent of the damages. But, they say the most important thing is that everybody got out safe.
"We have surveillance cameras that are viewable on our phone, and I immediately opened it up and realized that when all of them were full of smoke, that this wasn't just a small grease fire or something," Michael Leto, food and beverage manager at Nitty Gritty, said.
Leto says because a passerby called the fire department, they were able to get to the fire quickly.
"I got here about 1:20 in the morning, which was probably about five to 10 minutes after the passerby called the police department and fire department," Leto said. "They were able to keep most of the fire to the external outside of the building. So, fortunately for us, the fire was contained."
Leto says the building didn't sustain structural damage.
Peter Tempelis is a UW-Madison alumnus. He and his family have been coming to the Nitty Gritty for decades.
"It's a place that we visited when my dad was going through two bone marrow transplants, and it was our family dinner table," Tempelis said.
He drove from Pewaukee when he heard the news.
"You don't want to lose something that has history in Madison, that you frequent when you come here," he said. "So, we just hope that they can rebuild and come back even stronger."
"They've done nothing but great things for Madison, for the community," said Tempelis. "I feel terrible for the family and for the business and the staff, especially after the pandemic."
One of the owners, Lee Pier, tells 27 News if the Nitty Gritty can get through the COVID-19 pandemic, it can get through this.
"[The pandemic] was a struggle," Leto said. "It was a lot of long hours, a lot of pushing to rehire and train a lot of staff, and now this is just another bump in the road."
Leto considers himself fortunate to have worked with the Nitty Gritty for almost two decades. He's seen many unexpected things around Madison and says this is no different.
"I've seen a lot of things happen around downtown Madison," he said. "I've been here for a pandemic. I've been here for countless other bumps in the road. We're going to weather this storm, I'm sure just fine."
Leto says Nitty Gritty staff will be working with the Fire Marshall and health department to follow the appropriate steps to reopen the downtown location. Until then, the Middleton and Sun Prairie locations will be open and operational.
More at WKOW 27 News