WAUKEE, Iowa — A fire damaged the patio of Mickey's Irish Pub in Waukee early over the weekend, but the business has since reopened.
Waukee firefighters were dispatched around 6:45 a.m. Sunday to the restaurant located at 50 SE Laurel St.
Andy Walsh, who owns Mickey's along with his wife Amy, said the blaze broke up just hours before they were set to open for breakfast.
"We watched it on the camera, and it's amazing what happened in 15 minutes," Walsh told Local 5. "It went from almost like a smoldering nothing, to just, I mean, explosion ... we got brand new tables last year, like the nice poly composite tables, and once they got on fire, I mean, it just melted."
A person driving nearby made the initial call to Waukee Fire. Walsh said the department responded quickly and no one was inside at the time.
A review of security camera footage from the business shows someone putting out a cigarette in a small flower planter, located just outside the patio fence, after the bar closed at 2 a.m. The cigarette continued to smolder until 6 a.m., when the wind began to pick up.
"That really made it flare up... I think the flower pot melted, and then it was all off to the races after that," Walsh said.
An employee of the restaurant was headed into work at the time and called to tell the Walsh's that "the patio was on fire."
Restoration crews boarded up broken windows and worked to air out the inside of the building, which smelt of smoke. The pool table was also damaged.
Walsh told Local 5 on Tuesday they are "super lucky" that the inside of the business doesn't smell like smoke.