A Wednesday morning fire tore through the Mouth of the South restaurant near 30th and Willit in Florence.
The call came in shortly after 7 a.m. "Fire crews arrived to flames coming from the rear of the structure, near the roof," says Fire Chief Dan Olsen. "They made a very good decision initially to check for extension on the buildings on either side of the fire building." There was no fire extension on either side.
Structural issues posed a problem with getting to the fire inside the building. "We're dealing with what appears to be multiple additions in terms of the ceiling. So we have multi-layered ceiling, so it's difficult to reach the fire. We also have what we believe to be a multi-layered roof."
Olsen says that's not uncommon with older buildings like this one that have seen rehab and renovation over the years. Because the fire had a good head start before they arrived, Olsen says there was a fear of a collapse. Firefighters were pulled out of the building and fought the fire from the outside.
Strong winds hampered the battle and reduced visibility in the area, but by 8:40 a.m. the fire was declared under control. There were no reports of injuries and there was no immediate indication of a cause or estimate of a dollar loss.