Thick, black smoke covered 39th Street and Missouri 291 this morning. A fire broke out at Long John Silver's, but the smoke trickled over covering McDonald's and other parts of the parking lot.
Fire officials aren't sure what caused the fire, which began about 7 a.m. when no employees or customers were in the restaurant.
"Nobody was working in there," said Chief David Sellars. "They don't do breakfast."
The fire mostly occurred in the southeast corner of the building, where flames shot out of the roof.
"It's hidden in the soffits," (the underside of an overhang of the roof) Sellars said. "You can't always see the heavy smoke and fire."
Firefighters had to cut into the walls with a chainsaw to get to the hidden smoke.
"They tear into the wall to find the hot spots on the wood," Sellars said. "The worst thing is to have a rekindle ... and an hour later have to come back."
Seven companies assisted in putting out the fire.
"We have an extra crew just waiting in case there is a collapse," Sellars said. "They'll go in there and drag (firefighters) out. That's what they're there for."
