Mar 19, 2009 10:01 am US/Central
Fire Ravages Dolton Restaurant
Flames Shoot Through Roof Of Dusties Southern Family Style Buffet
DOLTON, Ill. (CBS) ―
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A fire severely damaged the Dusties Southern Family Style Buffet in Dolton overnight.
CBS
Arson cannot be ruled out as a possible cause of an extra-alarm fire that started in the storage area of a large restaurant in south suburban Dolton, officials say. Nobody was injured.
A Dolton police officer driving past Dusties Southern Style Family Buffet at 1321 E. Sibley Blvd. saw smoke and a "glow" in a window and alerted authorities about 2 a.m., according to Dolton Fire Department Chief Jerry McCullough.
When crews arrived, the fire was already fully involved and they couldn't tell what was inside the storage area. The blaze was raised to a second-alarm about 2:45 a.m., McCullough said.
No one was inside the one-story wooden restaurant when the blaze started, he said.
The Dolton Fire Department had to call in other crews to put out the fire. It took about an hour and a half for firefighters to get the blaze under control.
The back of the restaurant was reduced to a charred hulk, but the front was largely spared thanks to quick work by firefighters.
"What saved the building was a cinder block firewall. It stopped it [fire] from spreading to the front of the restaurant and the kitchen area," McCullough said.
The chief said despite a roof collapse over the storage area and the back of the building being "heavily damaged," the structure was left standing and could be rehabbed.
But the whole building sustained water and smoke damage.
The cause of the blaze was not known but investigators are "looking at every option," according to McCullough, who said about 60 fire personnel responded.
"Arson can't be ruled out," McCullough said, noting that accelerants were not found on the scene.
Smoke detectors did activate inside the structure and no building code violations were discovered as of 7:15 a.m., he said.
As of the start of the morning rush, Sibley Boulevard remained blocked at Meadow Lane near the scene, and a short distance west of the Bishop Ford Freeway.
CBS 2's Kris Habermehl and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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