Fire guts kitchen of Huntington bar

A fire gutted the kitchen of a wine and chocolate bar in Huntington early Wednesday, a fire official said Wednesday.

About 45 firefighters responded to a 911 call at about 4:20 a.m. at XO Wine and Chocolate Bar on Clinton Avenue, said Huntington Fire Department assistant chief Ken Cochrane. Volunteers on five trucks from Huntington, Huntington Manor and Halesite found the kitchen ablaze.

Cochrane said the fire was immediately contained and the main blaze knocked down in about 30 minutes.

The kitchen at the wine and chocolate bar was destroyed, he said, while the rest of the bar suffered "heavy, heavy smoke damage."

The surrounding stores also suffered minor smoke and water damage, but the blaze could have been much worse if not for volunteers' "phenomenal job," Cochrane said.

The bar is in a row of four stores with another eight or nine stores to the rear, he said.

"They got in there, knocked it down," he said. "It was a great stop."