Dec. 26--Black smoke could be seen Christmas morning across Wilson.
Wilson Fire/Rescue Services firefighters battled flames twice in one morning at the McDonald's located at 5028 Raleigh Road Parkway, near the I-95 interchange. A crew of firefighters were called out about 2 a.m., and then a few hours after they were off duty the fire rekindled and a second crew came a little after 11 a.m.
The BP gas station next door had to be evacuated after 11 a.m. because of heavy smoke. They were allowed to reopen after 2 p.m. The restaurant had closed at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve and nobody was in the building, according to fire officials.
Flames could be seen from the street, shooting from out of the side of the restaurant.
The fire is still under investigation, said Battalion Commander Jim Campbell.
"From what it looked like the first fire was in the back room area and kind of traveled partially through the structure," Campbell explained.
Campbell said firefighters knocked the first fire down, and the owner had someone coming to check on the building every few hours.
"In between time when they were checking it, there could have been an ember somewhere," Campbell said. "This building is an older-styled building, they make them totally different now."
Campbell said there are lots of void spaces where embers can fall. Fire and rescue crews poured water from the rooftop down into the restaurant. Other firefighters had to break the front windows of the building to start another stream of water to put the blaze out. Campbell said firefighters knew nobody was in the structure, and the building was not safe so they fought the fire from the outside of the building.
Two HVAC units, one in the middle and the other in the front, fell through the ceiling and into the restaurant.
"This type of building is very hazardous to firefighters," Campbell said. "Any type of fast food restaurant, like McDonald's, where the HVAC systems are on the roof can be dangerous."
Campbell said two firefighters in Houston were recently killed when three one ton HVAC units fell on them inside of a building.
"We've been educated from that event with these buildings," Campbell said. "So we are very, very cautious when we respond to something like this. When there is fire already through the roof, like it was here, we're going to do an exterior defensive attack."
Campbell said they could see the roof was already sagging, so they thought it best not to risk lives by not putting anyone inside of the building.
There was so much smoke coming out of the front windows, at one point it was difficult to even see firefighters crouched down together holding the second stream of water. Campbell said the owner and some corporate people are supposed to come to the scene today.
Campbell said he feels certain they will rebuild a new McDonald's soon. Firefighters sprayed foam inside of the building to help prevent any more embers from rekindling the fire.
Campbell had seven fire apparatus on the scene and 27 people fight the fire. Volunteer firefighters from East Nash and Silver Lake Departments assisted by covering the city while city firefighters fought the McDonald's fire.
"Especially on Christmas Day, for those guys to come out, and they are volunteers, and leave their families, is a huge thing for them to do.
Carlton Page, Wilson Emergency Medical Services captain, and his crew were on standby just in case firefighters needed them.
"Sometimes firefighters will inhale smoke, and we come to the scene to help them or any citizen that may need assistance," Page said. "So we come out, stand by for the fire department just in case they have someone to get hurt. We do rehab for them, monitoring their vital signs, just to be sure they are safe as well before they go back into the building."
This Christmas was anything but quiet, Page said. EMS ran over 60 calls in a 24-hour period from Christmas Eve to Christmas morning.
"There were a number of different calls; there were a lot of injuries, sick calls, motor vehicle accidents, things like that," Page said.
Usually, Page said they average between 35 to 45 calls a shift. Campbell said he is glad nobody was hurt and said everyone did a good job. Some people stopped to give firefighters and EMS workers drinks and food.
Travelers stopped their cars across the highway from the restaurant to look at the smoke and flames. One man who was standing across the street from the fire said he could taste the smoke in his mouth.
Wilson police came to move traffic along.
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