Fire Destroys Florida Olive Garden


A local Florida Olive Garden has been destroyed as a result of a fire early Monday morning. Firefighters were called to the Olive Garden in the 9400 block of Atlantic Boulevard at 2:58 am Monday morning.

According to First Coast News, when fire and rescue crews arrived on the scene, heavy smoke was emanating from the building. Jacksonville Fire Rescue Fire Chief, Martin Senterfitt, told reporters that crews battled the fire from inside the burning Olive Garden for a good 25 minutes before the roof started to collapse. At that point, crews were evacuated and were instructed to continue fighting the flames from outside the restaurant.

This isn’t the first Olive Garden to go up in smoke in the past week. In an earlier report by The Inquisitr, an Olive Garden in Monroe, Louisiana announced plans to rebuild their restaurant after it was destroyed by fire. The local chain employed 150 people who were all moved to other restaurants.

“First and foremost, we are extremely thankful no one was injured in the fire, and we are grateful for the efforts of all the first responders involved. Olive Garden remains committed to the Monroe community, and we plan to rebuild this restaurant,” Olive Garden general manager Bryan Gibbs explained.

Mayor Jamie Mayo spoke of the Monroe Olive Garden at a recent press conference where he said:

“We’re saddened by the fire at Olive Garden. We want to let you know that we, as a city, are here to help you and support you in whatever way that we can. I’m very, very appreciative to the fact that our men and women from the Monroe Fire Department came there under the leadership of Chief Williams to do everything that they could to support [the restaurant].”

The Olive Garden fire in Jacksonville, Florida is reported to have started accidentally according to WOKV. Officials stated that the fire did start on the roof before spreading throughout the restaurant. Reports stated that the establishment’s air conditioning unit had been located on the roof, and firefighters did get out of the building before the unit collapsed with the roof.

About 60 to 75 firefighters had responded to the scene after the first call. Once the fire was contained, officials said that the restaurant was a total loss. Two ladder trucks shot water through the roof to help battle the flames. WOKV reported that both east and westbound lanes of Atlantic Boulevard were closed for about three hours, but have since reopened. Olive Garden has said that they will provide job placement for the employees who have been displaced by the Jacksonville Olive Garden fire.

[Image by News4Jax Twitter Feed]

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