By WTOC Staff
Published: Aug. 11, 2022 at 5:21 AM EDT
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Pearl’s Saltwater Grille caught fire early Thursday morning.
The La Roche Avenue restaurant is still standing, but there is significant damage.
Fire Chief James Vickers for the Chatham Emergency Services says they got a fire alarm from the kitchen around 12:17 a.m. Fire crews were on scene three minutes later.
“We hit what we call the second alarm, that’s like five engines, two trucks, command safety, quite a few chief officers were here. We also called the haul caul manpower so that was about 10 more people so we may have about 30 to 40 people out here,” Chief Vickers said. “It’s a little tough because the roofing is metal and it’s over the fire so we’re just trying to hit around it. That’s why it’s taking so long.”
Fire crews have not called the building a total loss yet because they have not been able to get inside to see the damage because it has been too dangerous for them to enter.
They have been applying water to the fire for over five hours through the roof.
Chief Vickers says the restaurant overlooks and overlays water, making it even more difficult to contain the fire and more dangerous for crews to go inside.
“The grill is actually built over the water which is a little bit unique. A lot of the docking is burnt through, so it’s not safe for our personnel to go through, the floor is unstable,” Chief Vickers said.
As of 5 a.m. the restaurant’s dock was still on fire and crews are still putting hot spots out inside of the restaurant.
Crews do not expect to be able to get inside and safely assess damage until at least daylight.
“Shortly after that fire erupted through the roof when it self ventilated. At this time we’re going through overhaul, which is just keeping the fire and everything cool and finishing the hotspots and then we’re going to investigate after daylight,” Chief Vickers said.
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