26 Jun 2015

Cafe staff survive blowtorch explosion

5:23 pm on 26 June 2015

Staff at a cafe in central Auckland were lucky to escape with their lives when a blowtorch exploded.

Fond Ou cafe

Fond Ou cafe Photo: SUPPLIED / Facebook

The explosion at the Fond Ou cafe happened around 8am as food was being prepared for the day.

It caused a window to blow out and sparked evacuations in the cafe and neighbouring hotel.

Owner Jerome Isidro said he was grateful nobody was hurt when his kitchen blowtorch exploded while he was flambéing a chicken.

He said he has had the torch for 15 years without incident.

"Ever since I've worked in the kitchen we've used it for creme brulees or meringues. The flames just shooted out from all the crevices.

"I knew that already when it went into flame... we have to go out, it's going to blow."

Mr Isidro said the cafe suffered water damage from the sprinklers and they were hoping to reopen again by Sunday.