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San Marco restaurant forced to rebuild again, this time after a burglary ends in a fire, owner says

The Flame Broiler's San Marco was forced to rebuild two years earlier after Hurricane Irma flooded it with more than 30 inches of water.

Two years after rebuilding from damages caused by Hurricane Irma, the Flame Broiler in San Marco is being forced to close down and rebuild yet again, this time after a burglary reportedly ended in a fire.

First Coast News featured the restaurant in its documentary "Five Feet High and Rising" after the building saw more than 30 inches of water from the storm.

Now, the restaurant is forced to close for four to six weeks after a burglar broke through the window, tried to take money from the cash register, saw the security cameras and then tried to burn the restaurant's surveillance system, the owner, Jackie Grzebin said.

In a post to Facebook, a restaurant spokesperson said someone broke the business' back window sometime between 11:30 p.m. Friday and 7:30 a.m. Saturday.

”You put your heart and soul into being a small business owner and that’s everything you know," Grzebin said. "I brought my 7-year old here because he just couldn’t understand how someone would want to do this on purpose."

This is the second time restaurant employees have to rebuild in two years. According to Grzebin, more than 30 inches of water filled the restaurant after Hurricane Irma in 2017. After just a year and a half open, they had to rebuild then.

"You think that’s the worst [Irma], but it’s a natural disaster and now it’s just different," she said. "The natural disaster everyone went through it. Nobody did anything maliciously for that. This disaster is not natural. It’s just as much, if not more, damage."

She said the fire spread through the air ducts, forcing them to have to get an entirely new ceiling grid. Although they'll close the restaurant for a few weeks and the costs for repairs won't be cheap, Grzebin said she's optimistic.

”What doesn’t break you is going to make you stronger and I think this is OK," she said. "This is going to be a very small piece in hopefully building a successful business and keeping these four locations growing. I think we’re going to look back and say 'Wow, we thought that was hard. It was just a rebuild.'”  

Grzebin said they're trying to relocate their employees to their other locations during the closure. She said area restaurants have reached out and offered to employ The Flame Broiler's employees for the meantime. 

The restaurant said it's working closely with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to identify the person responsible for the fire. JSO has the surveillance video. The Fire Marshal Office is also investigation and a spokesperson said the investigation is ongoing and they haven’t determined a cause of the fire.

Three other Jacksonville locations remain open.

Those locations are:

Tapestry Park

9822 Tapestry Park Cir. 

Jacksonville, Fla., 32246

904-619-2786

Butler Pointe 

7159 Philips Hwy.

Jacksonville, Fla., 32256

904-337-0007

Oakleaf

9711 Applecross Rd.

Jacksonville, Fla., 32222

904-683-8441

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