Firefly owner devastated as salmonella count rises

Five hours after a new report was released Friday morning that more than doubled the number of people who reported food poisoning symptoms from his Firefly restaurant near the Strip, 45-year-old owner John Simmons visited another of his tapas eateries and tried to make sense of the fact that his dream come true turned into a nightmare for at least 200 of his customers.

Those sick patrons, many of them tourists, came from other countries –– Canada and England — and from 20 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington.

The FDA reports that more than 16 percent of Americans, about 48 million people, suffer from food poisoning every year. More than 3,000 people die from it annually.

“This is just devastating,” Simmons said, wearily shaking his head as he sat inside his Firefly location on West Sahara Avenue. “It was always my dream to own a restaurant where people could come and have a good time. And that’s what they did. People met their spouses at a Firefly, just like I did, like my brother did. It was supposed to be a place where you leave your cares behind for things like anniversaries and birthdays. And then this happened. I wish I knew the cause.”

According to Linh Nguyen, an epidemiologist with the Southern Nevada Health District, inspectors have been unable to pinpoint the source of the salmonella infection that resulted in the reports of gastrointestinal illness by patrons of the restaurant at 3900 Paradise Road –– complaints that prompted authorities to shut it down on April 26.

Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who specializes in foodborne illness cases nationwide says he represents 76 people sickened at the restaurant.

Twelve had to be hospitalized, he said, one as long as seven days. The symptoms of the poisoning cause dehydration and severe weakness.

“Most are sick from four to six days with vomiting and diarrhea,” said Marler, who works with local attorney Craig Murphy and has already filed one couple’s lawsuit. “Right now I don’t think any of them will die.”

The health district has been swamped with phone calls.

“We’ve been inundated with calls from all over the nation and not just patrons,” Nguyen said. “We’ve had them from health care providers and public health agencies. People would go home and become sick. Out of state laboratories would call us and ask what was going on.”

Between April 21 and 24, health district officials received reports from eight groups of people who had dined at the restaurant and became ill.

Inspectors also identified four Firefly employees who had been recently ill, but “the timing of their illness suggests that none of these four restaurant workers was the source of the illness,” the report said.

Twelve of 14 stool samples taken from employees and patrons by the health district were positive for salmonella.

Nguyen said investigators initially zeroed in on an egg-based aioli sauce, but since have ruled that out.

While grated hard cheeses appeared to be associated with the illness, Nguyen said many of the menu items consumed by patrons didn’t contain the cheese.

It is possible that some food source came into the restaurant already contaminated, she said. If the salmonella originated further back in the supply chain, she said sickness could be showing up elsewhere in the country. Investigators are now in contact with public health authorities nationwide.

Nguyen said that if food comes into the restaurant already contaminated, “something in the restaurant can amplify the contamination, such as poor handling or temperature abuse.”

If salmonella is present on raw or cooked foods, its growth can be controlled by proper refrigeration, she said.

High protein foods such as meat, poultry, fish and eggs are most commonly associated with salmonella, which is destroyed at cooking temperatures above 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

When inspectors visited Firefly on Paradise after patrons complained of illness, they cited the restaurant with 44 demerits, including food stored at improper temperatures, employees handling food without gloves and raw meat stored in a way that allowed liquid to drip. In 2011, the same restaurant was closed for a few days until demerits were overcome.

Inspectors wrote in Friday’s report: “Firefly should rectify faulty storage equipment and practices to ensure that food will be produced in a safe manner for consumption.”

In a statement released to the media Friday, Simmons said he believes the “recommended retraining on operations and procedures will help us regain the confidence of the community.” He also said he is hiring a “highly respected food safety and restaurant consultant with more than 25 years in the industry.”

After the problem at the Paradise location, inspections of the two other Firefly restaurants, one at 9560 W. Sahara Ave. and the other at 11261 S. Eastern Ave. in Henderson, also resulted in demerits being handed down by the health district. The Sahara location received 30, the Eastern location six. Both remained opened because neither hit the 41 mark for closure. A reinspection of the Sahara location on May 1 resulted in zero demerits. Because the Henderson location had so few, it was not reinspected and kept an “A” rating.

On Friday, Simmons said he would not try to reopen Firefly on Paradise at its present location. He had planned on closing it anyway. Instead he’ll open at a new location on the same street, 3824 Paradise, by the end of the month.

“It makes no sense to reopen for a week or so and then move,” he said.

Simmons, a former executive chef at Mon Ami Gabi restaurant at Paris Las Vegas, knows he faces a barrage of lawsuits but plans on staying open. Even as the news worsens about the outbreak –– both health officials and lawyers believe there will be more reported cases –– he says he continues to want his dream of owning restaurants to be one other people enjoy.

“I borrowed $150,000 from family and friends to open my first restaurant (on Paradise) 10 years ago,” he said as he looked around his Sahara location. “It’s been a true family thing and it’s been fun for people. ... I have employees that depend on me. ... I can’t sleep now. I can’t eat. ... My new restaurant was supposed to open weeks ago. Now I wish it had. ... I don’t want anybody hurt.”

Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2908.