{"id":11203027,"date":"2025-03-13T12:40:29","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T16:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11203027"},"modified":"2025-03-13T12:40:29","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T16:40:29","slug":"thank-you-to-harford-community-for-outpouring-of-support-after-restaurant-fire-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/03\/13\/thank-you-to-harford-community-for-outpouring-of-support-after-restaurant-fire-commentary\/","title":{"rendered":"Thank you to Harford community for outpouring of support after restaurant fire | COMMENTARY"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday morning, our parents\u2019 restaurant, Wargo\u2019s, experienced a fire. Thankfully, due to the swift response of several local volunteer firemen, it was contained to the kitchen. Our parents, Brenda and Andy, could not be more grateful for the help that arrived within minutes of the call.<\/p>\n

As time went on that morning, a constant stream of texts filled our mom\u2019s phone. At some points, we think she was more emotionally taken aback by the texts than the fire itself, as her eyes would fill with tears while reading them. Our dad took a calm stance as he walked the premises and assessed the damage. Our community\u2019s outpouring of support definitely tempered the sting of what happened that morning.<\/p>\n

Phone calls came in. Staff showed up and rolled up their sleeves to help. Customers came by to check in and see if everyone was okay. Facebook posts made by the local fire departments received numerous comments of love and support to our parents and staff, and they expressed their love of Wargo\u2019s itself.<\/p>\n

Just days later, we\u2019ve found that groups in the community have reached out to their own to support Wargo\u2019s with fundraisers and other means of supporting the restaurant\u2019s return. This is phenomenal and it brings our family to tears. Thank you.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s these gestures that make us all feel better and grateful about where we live and the people we know. Thank you so much for lifting up our parents during this time \u2014 you\u2019ve made it significantly easier for them. The three of us couldn\u2019t be more pleased with how we see them dealing with this situation with patience and clear minds \u2014 thanks to all your help, your thoughtful words and your actions of kindness. To our wonderful community, thank you so much for your love and your support of Wargo\u2019s. We know our parents will open the restaurant\u2019s doors to you again as soon as they can.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

Kerry Wargo Clough, Dana Wargo Santilli and Kimberly Wargo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Members of the Wargo family thank the Harford County community for their support after Wargo’s Restaurant & Tavern suffered a fire on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":11196910,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-03-13T16:40:40Z","apple_news_api_id":"6aacf686-7ab2-4cd8-ad8a-90fac23370d0","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-03-13T16:40:40Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Aaqz2hnqyTNitipD6wjNw0A","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"subheadline":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[503,504],"tags":[],"feature":[],"location":[325,223],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[26283,26284,26285],"class_list":["post-11203027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aegis","category-aegis-opinion","location-harford-county","location-maryland"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"504","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":{"deck_headline":"","print_title":"Thank you to Harford community for outpouring of support after restaurant fire ","print_subheadline":"","print_priority":"","print_placement":"inside","print_planned_ready":"","print_pub_date":"1741924800","print_slug":"AEG-L-WARGO-0314","print_budget_line":"","print_excerpt":"Members of the Wargo family thank the Harford County community for their support after Wargo's Restaurant & Tavern suffered a fire on Saturday.","print_notes":"","photo_limits":"Photo limits are: 1 featured image, 5 featured gallery images, 5 embedded gallery images and 5 in-article embedded images. Articles that exceed these limits will not export. Please adjust images to reflect these limits.","print_featured_gallery_richtext":"","print_inline_galleries_richtext":"","print_inline_images_richtext":"","print_content":"

On Saturday morning, our parents\u2019 restaurant, Wargo\u2019s, experienced a fire. Thankfully, due to the swift response of several local volunteer firemen, it was contained to the kitchen. Our parents, Brenda and Andy, could not be more grateful for the help that arrived within minutes of the call.<\/p>

As time went on that morning, a constant stream of texts filled our mom\u2019s phone. At some points, we think she was more emotionally taken aback by the texts than the fire itself, as her eyes would fill with tears while reading them. Our dad took a calm stance as he walked the premises and assessed the damage. Our community\u2019s outpouring of support definitely tempered the sting of what happened that morning.<\/p>

Phone calls came in. Staff showed up and rolled up their sleeves to help. Customers came by to check in and see if everyone was okay. Facebook posts made by the local fire departments received numerous comments of love and support to our parents and staff, and they expressed their love of Wargo\u2019s itself.<\/p>

Just days later, we\u2019ve found that groups in the community have reached out to their own to support Wargo\u2019s with fundraisers and other means of supporting the restaurant\u2019s return. This is phenomenal and it brings our family to tears. Thank you.<\/p>

It\u2019s these gestures that make us all feel better and grateful about where we live and the people we know. Thank you so much for lifting up our parents during this time \u2014 you\u2019ve made it significantly easier for them. The three of us couldn\u2019t be more pleased with how we see them dealing with this situation with patience and clear minds \u2014 thanks to all your help, your thoughtful words and your actions of kindness. To our wonderful community, thank you so much for your love and your support of Wargo\u2019s. We know our parents will open the restaurant\u2019s doors to you again as soon as they can.<\/p>

Sincerely,<\/p>

Kerry Wargo Clough, Dana Wargo Santilli and Kimberly Wargo<\/p>"},"print_workflow_exported_ts":"1741884056","print_workflow_exported_username":"Philip Caldwell","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":{"print_section":"24225","print_status":"24232","add_export_buttons":"","print_endpoint":"tribune"},"really_short_title":"","short_title":"","syndication_source":"","market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"metered","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":11196910,"title":"AEG-L-WARGOSFIRE-p2","filename":"AEG-L-WARGOSFIRE-p2_cb9849.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/AEG-L-WARGOSFIRE-p2_cb9849.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/03\/11\/fire-wargos-forest-hill\/aeg-l-wargosfire-p2-2\/","alt":"","author":"36","description":"","caption":"Firefighters responded to Wargo's Tavern around 8:15 a.m. on Saturday. The fire took roughly 30 minutes to extinguish. 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