Fire hits Goldsboro restaurant
By Ty Johnson
Published in News on July 20, 2012 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/AARON MOORE
Goldsboro firefighters ensure a fire in the back of the Texas Steakhouse & Saloon on Spence Avenue is completely extinguished late Thursday afternoon. Assistant Goldsboro Fire Chief James Farfour said today that the fire was believed to have started in a grassy area near the restaurant before moving to a wooden fence and eventually to the back of the building, damaging a walk-in freezer.
A fire behind Texas Steakhouse and Saloon on Spence Avenue Thursday afternoon caused restaurant guests and employees to be evacuated as responders from Goldsboro Fire Department contained the flames and investigated its cause.
Assistant Chief James Farfour was on the scene Thursday as firefighters extinguished the fire, which began outside the restaurant near its dumpsters and damaged the back wall of the walk-in freezer.
The dark plumes of smoke could be seen from Berkeley Boulevard, but it took firefighters about seven minutes to put out the fire, limiting further damage to the building.
Farfour said the primary objective was to keep smoke out of the dining area.
Dispatch relayed the call at 4:37 p.m. and responders from Royall Avenue Express Station 2 were on the scene by 4:42 p.m., according to dispatch records.
The investigation into the cause of the fire began shortly after the fire was contained at 4:49 p.m.
Farfour said while the official cause of the blaze remains undetermined, it appeared the fire had begun in the grassy area near a wooden fence before spreading down the fence and onto the structure. That area, he said, is typically where employees take their smoke breaks.
The restaurant was closed Thursday evening, but Farfour said restaurant managers he spoke with said they hoped to be open today by lunch, depending on the extent of the damage to the freezer.
Ladder 1 and Engine 5 also responded to the call, along with EMS personnel and Goldsboro police who directed traffic.