PLEASANT HILL, CALIFORNIA – One of the East Bay’s best barbecue places now lies in ruins.
Tragically, a fire appears to have completely destroyed Slow Hand Barbecue in Pleasant Hill, California.
I spoke to a representative of Contra Costa Fire Protection District (Con Fire) and also visited the site myself to learn what had happened.
According to Con Fire, at 10:24 p.m. on Sunday evening, firefighters responded to a fire at the Slow Hand Barbecue location on Oak Park Boulevard in Pleasant Hill, California.
The fire had caused extensive damage to the building at that time.
Con Fire says an investigator went into the building and determined the fire was accidental. It started in a smoker inside the building and spread through an exhaust hood to the exterior.
Con Fire says that although the initial fire was put out, the smoker was constructed from brick and the building is old. That means that firefighters felt it was likely there would be additional “hotspots” that might remain smoldering.
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Firefighters came back at 2 a.m. and again at 4:30 to monitor the building.
When they returned at around 7 in the morning on Monday, they found that the fire was still ongoing and a hotspot had indeed existed within the smoker or the surrounding building.
This required Con Fire to more aggressively fight the morning fire, tearing through the building’s roof and other parts of the interior.
When I visited the site for The Bay Area Telegraph at around 1:30 p.m. on Monday, I found several fire engines parked in front of Slow Hand Barbecue.
The entire front of the building was open to the elements, and a large pile of debris – including everyday items like swively chairs and a water cooler – was strewn around the parking lot.
Presumably, these items had been ejected from the building by Con Fire as they searched for small parts of the building interior.
The Slow Hand Barbecue sign was still present, but all the windows around it were smashed, and the exterior of the building appeared badly damaged.
Through the front windows, I could see that the roof was in pieces and open to the elements.
The parking lot of Slow Hand Barbecue was covered in firefighting foam, and a large mound of foam extended out into the road.
Con Fire told me that the fire now is likely entirely out after the more aggressive measures firefighters took this morning. Still, firefighters are remaining on site to ensure that there are no further hotspots.
It’s a tragic end to a barbecue place that many locals have loved to visit for years.
The only consolation is that no one was injured in the blaze.
This one especially hurts because Slow Hand Barbecue is one of the few remaining barbecue places in the 925.
Horn Barbecue appears to have closed in Lafayette after moving from Oakland, following its own fire, and the upstart Dad’s Barbecue near Rossmoor closed after less than a year.
Slow Hand always felt like the silver lining, offering excellent barbecue food that had been around for years. The restaurant has another location in Martinez.
Although the Pleasant Hill location certainly is not open for business given the extensive damage – and will likely remain closed for the foreseeable future – it is unclear whether the Martinez location is continuing. We hope that it does, and that over time, Slow Hand is able to recover from the blaze.
One upside is that the portable barbecue equipment for catering, parked in front of the building, did not appear to have been damaged.
That suggests Slow Hand might still be able to offer their on-site catering or continue to use this portable pit to smoke food, even if their main building is essentially destroyed.
Again, there’s no indication of any foul play. Con Fire’s own investigation initially revealed that the fire was accidental.
We’ll be following the story closely. Make sure to join my free 925 News newsletter so we can keep you updated.
