Power pole may have been cause of fire, official says
Published 5:00 am Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Polly’s Soul Food restaurant remained closed today after an fireearly Saturday gutted the kitchen and storage areas, FireDepartment officials said.
Capt. Marty Beeson, the supervisor on the scene Saturday, saidrestaurant owner Theresa Lenoir indicated she intends to reopen therestaurant at 115 Main St. as soon as repairs as can be made. Therestaurant is named for Lenoir’s mother, Polly Byrd.
The cause of the fire is still undetermined, Beeson said, butappears to be electrical.
“I’m going to call the state fire marshal and let him look atit,” said Fire Chief Bob Watts. “They reported hearing something onthe power pole before the fire.”
The fire gutted the kitchen and storage areas, but firefighterswere able to prevent the fire from spreading to other areas of therestaurant.
“There were a few spot fires in the dining area. Nothing major,”Beeson said.
Neighbors called in a power pole fire around 1:15 a.m. Saturday,Beeson said. When firefighters arrived, they found the entire backof the restaurant ablaze and called for assistance.
The restaurant fire highlights a busy weekend forfirefighters.
While fighting the restaurant fire, firefighters also weredispatched, at 2:01 a.m. Saturday, to Brookwood Apartments. Theblaze had been extinguished when firefighters arrived. A skilletleft on a burner caused minor damage to a stove and cabinet.
Later Saturday, firefighters responded to 719 S. Egypt Circlefor a minor trash fire.
A trailer home at 515 Mamie St., owned by Ulysses Bryant, waslost Sunday afternoon. The structure was fully involved on arrival,Beeson said.
This morning, firefighters responded at 7:40 a.m. to a reportedhouse fire at 415 Ellen St. Smoke from smoldering lint in theheater set off the alarm.