Frank Mutz surveys the fire damage to the kitchen of his building, formerly Diamond Dave’s Café. On Monday, August 3, Frank and his wife Stacy were at Diamond Dave's Cafe in Fillmore, taking interior and exterior photos of the property at 454 Santa Clara Street that they lease to Dave Burns for his popular restaurant. They finished photographing the property and left, but returned 45 minutes later. And it’s a good thing they did. A kitchen fire had ignited and the Mutz's were met with billows of smoke pouring out of the east kitchen windows. Frank ran inside, while Stacy called 911. He grabbed a fire extinguisher hanging in the kitchen, one of two on the premises. But the flames were already lapping up to the kitchen ceiling and pressured cans were starting to explode, forcing Frank out of the area. Fillmore Fire Department, and Ventura County and City Fire arrived within 15 minutes of the 911 call. It took two hours to extinguish the fire. "I want to thank the fire departments for treating it with such urgency," stated Frank. "They got it out pretty quickly, considering," added Stacy. The fire caused over $250,000 in damages, but that figure is not final until the insurance company makes its final determination, stated the couple. The fire was caused by large appliances plugged into an electrical outlet behind the stove. The overload caused an outlet arc fault which sparked the fire, according to Stacy and Frank.

The Mutz’s have owned the building since 2004 and ran a restaurant out of it from 2004 to 2006, when the leased it to Burns. Frank and Stacy plan on reopening the business themselves. "We can't wait to get it reopened again for all our customers, and see all their friendly faces," said Stacy. "I miss them all and think about them often."