Peel pizzeria owners hope to reopen O’Fallon store in less than a week

An owner of the Peel pizza restaurant in O’Fallon said he is hoping to reopen the eatery in less than a week.

Patrick Thirion, who co-owns the business at 104 S. Cherry St. and a sister restaurant in Edwardsville with Brandon Case, said repairs are progressing quickly.

“We have the construction crew here and we got full power back on (Wednesday) so things are progressing quickly,” Thirion said. “We don’t have a firm date because sometimes things happen. But I want to be open as soon as we can.”

The fire started at about 1 p.m. Sunday in a dumpster right behind the building. Because the trash receptacle was made out of plastic, it was unable to contain the flames, which spread to siding on the pizzeria.

O’Fallon Fire Department Chief Brent Saunders said the placement of the dumpster and the material it was made of were necessitated by the limited space behind the building. So there isn’t a lot that can be done differently.

Thirion said the dumpster used by Peel was made of plastic instead of the more traditional metal because garbage trucks couldn’t get directly to use its lift to pick up the receptacle and dump it into the truck. Instead, workers have to get out of the truck and push the dumpster into the alley behind Peel so they can reach it with their truck. The plastic dumpster was used because it is lighter and easier to push.

Thirion said he may not be able to move the dumpster because of the limited space behind his restaurant. But he said he at least wants a metal dumpster with a metal lid to prevent the same sort of fire from recurring.

Peel is located in a former bank building that was constructed in 1903 and expanded in 1908.

The many layers of siding added to the building over the years contributed to the fire jumping from the dumpster to the restaurant, according to Saunders. But the fire could have easily been much worse. Upgrades done to the structure before Peel opened there included a sprinkler system that is credited with preventing the fire from spreading to the interior.

If that would have happened, Saunders and Thirion agreed, a minor fire could have easily turned the building into a total loss.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 10:04 AM with the headline "Peel pizzeria owners hope to reopen O’Fallon store in less than a week."