Fire destroys Fandangle's

Customers and staff out safely, but at least one firefighter injured

A teary-eyed Wally Campbell looked on helplessly Sunday afternoon as fire consumed his popular Fandangle's Restaurant, which he started 25 years ago.Campbell said he believes the fire started with an electrical box in the basement. The restaurant, located on North Conway's Route 16 commercial strip, was almost full at the time, but Campbell said all customers and staff got out of the building safely.However, at least one firefighter was injured fighting the blaze and was taken to The Memorial Hospital by ambulance. The identity of the firefighter and the extent of his injuries were not known.Campbell was at the restaurant when the fire broke out. He said he was alerted that there was smoke downstairs, and, when he went to investigate, he said three of his cooks were trying to fight the fire."They could hardly breathe" because of the smoke, Campbell said.Campbell came back upstairs to the restaurant and bar area and told everybody to evacuate."Wally didn't panic," Gary Egers, who was at the restaurant for his Sunday "ritual" of brunch and football. "He just calmly got everybody out of the building."Egers and other customers and staff said they did not smell or see smoke until they got outside, and saw smoke coming out through the vents.The only sign of trouble, according to one customer, is that part of the building lost power just moments before the fire was discovered at approximately 1 p.m.Smoke was soon pouring out of windows and vents on the main level of the building, and, about an hour after the fire started, flames were shooting through the roof.Customers and staff looked on in tears."It's a landmark," said Sandra Kinsman, of Jackson, a longtime Fandangle's patron. "It's unbelievable."Kinsman said the Campbell family has been "so wonderful to everybody in the valley.""There's a reason everybody comes here," Kinsman said. "The whole family, whole building, the whole atmosphere. It's like a 'Cheers.'"Kinsman said she spoke briefly with Campbell outside the building after the fire broke out."He's just devastated, I'm sure," Kinsman said. "He's worked so hard to build what he has."Campbell started working at what was then the North Conway Howard Johnson's in 1960. He bought the business from his father-in-law in 1978, and changed the name of the restaurant to Fandangle's in 1982.Campbell is president of the Valley Originals, a consortium of 20 local, independent restaurants. Another member of that organization, Dewey Mark, of the Red Parka Pub in Glen, was among those looking on as Fandangle's burned Sunday."It's a major institution," Mark said. "It has been for years and years."Mark said Campbell was one of his first customers 35 years ago, and the two have been close friends through the years."I'm sure all the restaurant industry will pitch in and do what they can," Mark said. "This is a great loss for the valley."