Investigators found at least three places around the 52-year-old building where the Sunday fire appeared to have been deliberately set, said Bucky Burnsed, spokesman for the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department.
Burnsed would not say if there were any suspects in the fire.
Savannah police, state fire investigators, the Southside Fire Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are all investigating the fire.
``This whole thing floors me,'' restaurant co-owner Tommy Williams II said Monday after police announced the fire was arson. ``I don't know what to think.''
Williams, a third-generation restaurant owner, said he did not know anyone who would want to harm him or his business. He also said he could not think of any disgruntled former employees or business partners who could be suspects.
Authorities were called to the scene, located on U.S. Highway 80 near Savannah, around 6 a.m. Sunday. But the building was already fully engulfed in flames when firefighters got there.
Witnesses had told police and fire personnel they heard a series of explosions before seeing the fire, police said. No injuries were reported.
