A two-alarm fire at Morton's The Steakhouse in Downtown on Saturday evening closed part of Liberty Avenue for an hour and a half and forced the upscale restaurant to cancel about 200 reservations.
A Morton's employee reported the fire about 5 p.m., just as the restaurant was preparing to open for what is typically the busiest night of the week, Pittsburgh Deputy Fire Chief Harry Scherer said.
Firefighters quickly put out a fire in the kitchen's ventilation ductwork. Maintenance work had been done on the ductwork earlier in the day, Scherer said. Firefighters are investigating to determine if that caused the fire.
Smoke poured out of vents and blackened the sky.
“You couldn't see the parking garage when you walked out the front door,” said Morton's server Shawn Zvolensky of White Oak, pointing to a garage about 100 yards away.
The restaurant sustained smoke and water damage. A manager said he didn't know when the restaurant might reopen. The county Health Department must complete an inspection.
Morton's managers worked to accommodate people with reservations.
“They were very helpful,” said Peter Ort of Salem, Ohio, who made reservations for four to celebrate the 45th wedding anniversary of his sister and brother-in-law. Morton's found them a table at Ruth's Chris Steak House at Six PPG Place.
“They're even going to walk us to the other restaurant,” Ort said as a server led the way down Liberty Avenue.
Some smoke wafted into neighboring Heinz Hall, but firefighters helped to ventilate the building with high-powered fans, Scherer said.
“At this time, the good news is Heinz Hall is not directly involved. We are assessing residual smoke damage,” said Louise Sciannameo, vice president of communications for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
A scheduled 50th wedding anniversary celebration was held at Heinz Hall as planned, though it started about a half hour late because some guests had trouble getting to it.
Tom Fontaine is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7847 or tfontaine@tribweb.com.
