Wiscasset firefighters quickly put out an early morning fire Thursday in the trap below the grill at Ship’s Chow Hall on Route 1.

“They did a great job,” the restaurant’s owner Tina Fitzsimmons said at about 7 a.m. as customers had breakfast as usual.

Firefighters had just left the restaurant after putting out a small rekindle of the fire. Both the initial fire and the rekindle were very minor, Wiscasset Fire Chief T.J. Merry said.

In an interview at the restaurant, Fitzsimmons said the grill gets cleaned daily, and a more extensive cleaning involving stripping every few weeks. After the restaurant closed Nov. 19, one of those more extensive cleanings was done.

A piece of potato with oil on it apparently became caught under the grill and sparked the fire when she turned the grill on at about 4 a.m. Thursday, she said.

Fitzsimmons said the restaurant had a previous grill fire that occurred the same way, from a piece of food becoming trapped, about four years ago.