An iconic Arkansas barbecue restaurant was damaged by fire Sunday morning.
James Harold Jones, the owner of Jones' Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, said he was cooking pork in the pit behind the restaurant when fat dripped onto the coals and caused a flame that shot up and caught the roof on fire.
Jones said he was inside the building when the fire started.
"It was just quick enough and long enough [to start the fire]," he said.
Jones said the fire destroyed the roofed pit area and damaged the main building. He said the dining area in the front of the building wasn't damaged, and the kitchen had only water damage from fire hoses.
Jones said he's going to construct a metal building for the pit area and repair the rear of the main building, which was constructed in 1964.
Marianna Fire Chief Terry Sandefer said about 70% of the two-story building was damaged but it's salvageable.
"It's probably not that bad," said Jones.
Sandefer said firefighters arrived at 10:45 a.m. Sunday and were on the scene for about two hours.
"It was hot when we got there," he said. "It was rolling pretty good. The first we did was try to get it cut it off from the main building."
In 2012, Jones' Bar-B-Q became the first Arkansas restaurant to win a coveted James Beard Award, which is given nationally by the James Beard Foundation to honor culinary professionals. Little Rock's Lassis Inn won one in 2020. Both won in the category of America's Classics.
Jones said the Beard award was in the restaurant's dining room during the fire, along with photos of tractors and other decor.
Jones' Bar-B-Q Diner is "one of the oldest African-American-owned restaurants in America," according to the James Beard Foundation news release from 2012.
Jones said the family's restaurant business dates from the 1910s.
"Jones father, Hubert Jones, recalled in a 1986 interview that the family's initial barbecue apparatus was a 'hole in the ground, some iron pipes, and a piece of fence wire and two pieces of tin,'" John T. Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, wrote in "Saveur."
After initially selling barbecue from their homes, the Jones family sold meat at a place called the Hole in the Wall.
"That's what it was," James Harold Jones told Edge. "Just a window in a wall where they sold meat from a washtub."
In his 60 years he's been cooking barbecue, Jones said this is only the second time the smoking meat caused a structure fire.
Jones said he normally starts smoking meat at 2 a.m. but the diner is closed on Sundays so he didn't start cooking until 6 a.m. He likes to smoke the pork for 12 hours in the two pits behind the building, occasionally going inside to sit and take a break.
Marianna Mayor Jimmy Williams rushed from church when he heard about the fire.
Williams said people from all over the world come to Marianna to eat at Jones' Bar-B-Q.
"It's been a big draw for the city of Marianna," he said. "People would come from other countries. They'd say, 'Well, we were in Memphis or driving down Interstate 40 and we heard about Jones' Bar-B-Q.'
"Norway, Australia, all over just because of the notoriety the city of Marianna got from Jones' Bar-B-Q winning the James Beard Award in 2012."
Sometimes, Jones sells out of meat before lunchtime.
"Hours are 7 a.m. until the food runs out," according to the restaurant's Facebook page. "There is NO MENU. All Jones BBQ Diner serves is a pork BBQ sandwich on Wonder Bread."
Williams said the sandwiches cost $3.50.
Steve Higginbothom, a former state senator from Marianna, said he heard about the fire and headed straight to Jones' diner on Sunday morning.
"I asked him 'Is there anything I can do?' and he said 'Can you save this meat?'"
Higginbothom said Jones gave him a considerable amount of pork to take home.
"It was tempting but I haven't even eaten a bit," said Higginbothom. "He may need it by the middle of the week for sandwiches. He's got getting back in business on his mind."
Jones has set up a GoFundMe page to raise $10,000 for repairs: gofundme.com/f/help-jones-barbecue-diner-of-marianna-ar.
By late Sunday afternoon, about half that amount had been raised.