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Oct. 08--SANFORD -- Authorities are investigating the cause of a Thursday evening fire that destroyed a bar in Jonesboro Heights.
Schooly's Bar and Billiards at 102 E. Trade St. had extensive damage and likely will be a total loss, Sanford Fire Marshal Ken Cotten said.
The fire was reported to have started over an office area of the bar and was burning between three layers of ceilings built atop one another, he said.
"It had been burning for a while," Cotten said.
The bar was open when the fire was reported about 8 p.m., but all occupants evacuated safely, he said.
Firefighters got the blaze under control in about 45 minutes and spent about five hours dousing hot spots, Cotten said.
A firewall separated the bar from another business, TV Clinic, in the same building. That business was not damaged, although it had smoke and water damage, Cotten said.
Fire investigators, along with police and agents from the State Bureau of Investigation, were at the scene Friday trying to determine the fire's origin and cause.
