Tammy Sundin helps sweep up the damages Jan, 19, 2024, from the flood the morning of Jan. 18 at the Flying X Speakeasy Lounge in Pendleton.

PENDLETON — One of Pendleton’s newest restaurants, the Flying X Speakeasy Lounge, is temporarily shut down due to flooding that occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning, Jan. 18.

Tim McFetridge, who owns the restaurant with his husband, Markus, said a valve from the building’s fire suppression sprinkler system broke around 2 a.m. The failed valve caused water to drain from the system into the basement, where the restaurant is located.

“What we know right now is that it was not related to any types of frozen pipes or making sure that everything was kept warm,” McFetridge said. “It was just an accidental faulty valve for the sprinkler system and it’s been fixed.”

Around 7 a.m., five hours after the flooding began, the McFetridges received alerts on their phones because a security camera had picked up on movement caused by floating items. They arrived at the Flying X to find about a foot of water covering the floor.

McFetridge said one of the first thoughts he had was, “‘Oh god, what are we going to do now?’”

The restaurant on Southwest First Street opened in October after months of renovations done mainly by its owners and their friends.

“It’s pretty emotional for us,” McFetridge said. “It’s obviously our livelihood. We put our blood, sweat and tears into this thing.”

Although city responders were able to turn the water off, and Kennewick-based water damage restoration company ServePro pumped the water out of the restaurant, the extent of the structural damage is unclear at this point. The rest of the building appears to be undamaged.

Outside of structural damage, McFetridge said most, if not all, of their electronics still work. They lost some important paperwork to the flood as well as dry goods, paper products, storage containers and possibly some of their freezers and refrigerators.

It also appears that the secondhand furniture — including many tables, chairs, and vintage couches found and curated through friends and family — should be salvageable.

The restaurant will likely be closed for a few weeks. The couple hopes to reopen by early February at the latest, before the 2024 Daddy Daughter Dance on Feb. 10.

“We’re handling it very well, I believe,” McFetridge said of himself and Markus. “Him and I are pretty strong. Things happen, and you just need to move onto the next thing.”

For now, that means assessing the damage, cleaning everything and drying the restaurant out, figuring out what they need to do to reopen, and asking their community for support.

“We don’t have any other source of income at all coming in,” McFetridge said, “so we are asking for any community support that people can give us right now, just help and involvement trying to get us up and running, not even money, but if anyone knows of any kinds of programs or relief.”