Burger King burns in Tully
/ Tom Eschen
TULLY -- The Burger King fire in Tully lit up the night sky on Wednesday night. Fire crews from miles away were called to the scene as first responders were greeted with heavy fire in the back and roof areas of the building. Several viewers sent pictures of the restaurant engulfed in flames.
Tully Fire Chief Steven Shahan says they received the call around 8 o'clock from one of the Burger King workers. They say the fire started in the kitchen or storage area, and natural gas fed the fire for awhile, which the crews had some difficulty turning off. Part of the roof collapsed because of the heavy flames, forcing crews to stay outside while Dewitt Fire worked on the engulfed roof on a ladder.
Crews were finally able to get inside through the windows of the dining room, and began putting out small sections of the fire, and finally were able to control the flames after 10 o'clock.
"Anytime you have a fire in a building of this nature...you have a kitchen, you have gas issues, you have electrical issues, we had probably cooking oil burning in the back there, so it's just something you need to be careful about in terms of having your guys working on the inside of a structure like that," Tully Fire Chief Steven Shahan says.
Because of well below freezing temperatures, rock salt was applied to the areas surrounding the Burger King to prevent the water used to fight the fire from freezing, Shahan said would pose another risk if a firefighter slipped on the ice. Shahan says no one was injured in the fire, and that fire investigators are still trying to figure out a cause.
