Rock owners plan to reopen burned eatery

Owners of Twain Harte’s The Rock restaurant said Thursday they will rebuild and reopen after a fire earlier in the morning burned out much of the building.

“The Rock will live on,” declared Diane Dunigan, co-owner of the restaurant. She and her husband, James Dunigan, hope to reopen in a month.

 “The fire chief thought there wasn’t any structural damage,” Dunigan said. “If there is a problem structurally, it’s going to take a lot longer.”

If it takes too long to open the original building, the Dunigans plan to look for a temporary home for their business until the restaurant can be fixed.

The fire was reported at 12:19 a.m. Thursday by a person leaving a nearby establishment.

According to Cal Fire’s Fire Prevention Bureau Chief Dennis Townsend, the fire probably started in a pile of leaves and pine needles located just outside the back door of the restaurant, climbed up the side of the building into the attic and spread to the kitchen.

Townsend hasn’t ruled out the possibility that the fire started in a ventilation fan, dropped down into the vegetation and spread back up into the building.

The Dunigans bought the restaurant eight years ago when they moved from Campbell, looking for work.

Outsourcing chased James out of manufacturing, and the couple bought The Rock to start a new life in a new industry. Soon after moving to Sonora, Diane’s call-center employer began outsourcing to India and she joined her husband at The Rock.

The restaurant has stood for 20 years and has a number of devotees.

Don Vierra, of Twain Harte, sat alone in his pickup in the drizzling rain Thursday morning, drinking tea out of a travel cup in The Rock’s parking lot.

He said he has had his morning cup of coffee at the restaurant most mornings for quite a few years, sometimes with breakfast and always with interesting conversation.

“A lot of people come here for their morning coffee,” he said. “I wonder what we’ll do tomorrow.”

He said Diane Dunigan called him about 7 a.m., saying the restaurant was closed.

“It’s really sad,” he said. “I hope they can reopen.”