Under the hot Tuesday afternoon sun, Daniel Haase peered across the street at the charred remains of his Little Rock eatery.
"[It's] a shame to see it go up this way," said Haase as firefighters sprayed water over the restaurant's partially missing roof.
Fire crews were called shortly after noon to Ozark Country Restaurant at 202 Keightley Drive, just off Cantrell Road, according to Fire Department Capt. Jason Weaver. The initial report was that flames were shooting out of the restaurant's roof and nearby trees were on fire, Weaver said.
No injuries were reported, as the restaurant was already evacuated, according to the spokesman.
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By 1 p.m., the fire was mostly extinguished. Weaver added that the cause had not been determined yet, but witnesses said the fire appeared to have started in the back of the restaurant. Part of the building had fire damage, and there was water, smoke and heat damage throughout the structure, he said.
Weaver described the building as a complete loss.
Nolan Young, a cook at the restaurant for nearly a month, said the business was preparing to close for the day at its normal time, 1 p.m. He said he turned the grill off and went out to empty the trash. He went back inside and was mopping up when the owner saw smoke on the back deck.
Firefighters respond to a Tuesday afternoon blaze that left Ozark Country Restaurant heavily damaged in Little Rock. No one was reported hurt. #ArkDG #ARNews pic.twitter.com/Lyp9SXGmBl
— Brandon Riddle (@BrandonCRiddle) May 1, 2018
The fire moved rapidly, Young said, spreading to a couple of tall trees behind the building.
The business was previously known as Ozark Mountain Smokehouse. It has been at that address for decades.
Haase, who reported owning the restaurant for more than two decades, said he went to see what was going on before telling someone to call 911.
When asked if the restaurant would reopen, Haase shrugged and said, "At this point, who knows."
"It was kind of a panic at first," said Raekwon Johnson, a teenage employee at the restaurant who was inside when he saw the fire.
Lloyd Walker, a longtime customer, stood across the street Tuesday and said he went to the scene after hearing about the fire on the news.
"My son and I eat here a lot," he said, mentioning his favorite meal was the country ham with biscuits and gravy.
As firefighters continued to work, Walker took out a phone and snapped a picture to send to his son.
"He'll be sick," he said.
Metro on 05/02/2018