Texarkana Arkansas Fire Department units responded to a fire inside the Denny’s Restaurant at 5104 N. Stateline. The restaurant was heavily damaged. No injuries reported.
While cleaning in the kitchen a gas line was ruptured behind a grill and that is where the fire began. Customers and staff were quickly evacuated. Texarkana Arkansas Fire Marshall Stephen Johnson said,
“Damage to the kitchen is extensive and they are going to be down for a while.”
TAFD Press Release:
The Texarkana Arkansas Fire Department (TAFD) responded to a structure fire at Denny’s Restaurant at 5104 N Stateline at 1003 hours today. All five TAFD stations and one station from the Texarkana Texas Fire Department were dispatched. The first arriving unit on scene advised there was thick black smoke venting from the roof of the building. The employees and customers had already evacuated the structure. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire in approximately 15 minutes, but remained on scene for another two hours checking for hot spots and reloading the hoses.
Interviews on scene with the employees and customers revealed the employees were attempting to clean behind the flat grill. They stated that natural gas started leaking from behind the grill as they were moving it out away from the wall. This natural gas spread to an ignition source and ignited.
The fire caused major damage to the kitchen and minor damage to the rest of the interior. The fire is under investigation at this time.
