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Any word on what actually happened? Was it a kitchen fire? Or, something else? I am surprised that everyone was ordered to evacuate immediately. Was fire readily obvious? Now I am curious!

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Yeah, there were people who seemed pretty happy about it, some still had there drinks with them while walking back to land. I'm sure the staff weren't to happy, there tips definately went up in flames even if the pier didn't.

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Not to discount your harrowing experience, but if I had to choose a place where to get stuck during a fire, a pier is likely towards the top of the list. Surrounded by water, the likelihood of getting burned alive are close to zero. I would much prefer to be forced to jump into water than many other things. Then again, the Hudson is not to be trifled with: strong currents, and very cold temperature.

As a completely aside funny thought: I suppose that if you had arrived around 7 PM, your entire meal would have been free.

I'm just seeing this now after a very strange experience last night at Batello. We got there for dinner around 9pm and were seated for a table of five promptly. After being handed our menus the fire alarms went off. We were told to leave the restaurant immediately and evacuate the pier. Our car was parked on the the pier so we just left as the fire trucks came roaring up Washington St. I have no idea what happened but this story is pretty scary, just thinking about getting stuck out on a pier during a fire.

Revenge is bad when people have a lot of power at the strike of a match.

A 20-year-old West New York man has been accused of purposely starting a fire at a Downtown Jersey City restaurant using gasoline and a match, according to a criminal complaint filed against him.
Carlos Argueta, who appeared in Central Judicial Processing in Jersey City today, has been charged with arson, causing or risking widespread injury, failing to report a dangerous fire and criminal mischief.

Last Friday, Argueta allegedly poured gasoline on the premises of 502 Washington Blvd. -- where the restaurant Batello is located on the Jersey City waterfront -- and lit a match to ignite the fire, the complaint stated.
Sources told The Jersey Journal that Argueta was an employee of the upscale Jersey City restaurant at the time he allegedly committed the arson.
Besides starting the blaze, Argueta is accused of purposely failing to report the fire or taking reasonable measures to put out or control the fire, the complaint stated.
He allegedly caused damage in excess of $2,000 to the communications system and the electrical system of the restaurant, according to the complaint, which also stated that Argueta confessed to the charges listed above.

When the Battello restaurant was contacted earlier this evening for information about the incident, no one was available to speak about what happened.

The Jersey City Police Department declined to release a police report about the incident today, stating that details about the arson will be released tomorrow morning.

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