JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department crews spent Thursday morning on the scene of a commercial structure fire at a seafood restaurant on North Main Street.
JFRD tweeted at 7:27 a.m. that crews were responding to the 9300 block of Main Street North, where smoke was showing from the building at Junior's Seafood. Crews arrived on scene within two minutes of receiving the call, and when they arrived, it appeared the fire was in the building's attic space, JFRD said.
Crews had to be pulled out of the building due to safety concerns after they arrived on scene, according to Capt. Eric Prosswimmer. It took crews about 50 minutes to get the fire under control.
"We were worried about a flashover from heavy heat within the attic space, and they pulled them out, cool that down, put the crews back in and worked at at saving this building," he said.
Around 65 firefighters responded. Prosswimmer said the fire "wasn't easily handled."
No one was inside the building at the time of the fire, Prosswimmer said, and no one was hurt.
JFRD fights fire at popular seafood restaurant on North Main Street Thursday morning
First Coast News spoke with some of the owners' family members, who say the decades-old restaurant makes everyone feel like family, so seeing it burn is "devastating."
"I'm sad to say that the businesses will be closed for a while," Prosswimmer said. "There's a pretty substantial damage to the the entire structure."
The State Fire Marshal's Office investigator has been called to determine how the fire started, Prosswimmer said. It appears to have started on the ground level and worked its way to the attic, but it was too early to tell, he said.
He also said it is "way too early" to determine whether the fire started under suspicious cause.
"Literally, we just put the fire out a few minutes ago," Prosswimmer said. "I hate to say it, but that's our last -- or one of our least concerns at this time. We're trying to make sure we save this business and save what we can for these owners."
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office also responded to the scene, where the southbound lanes of Main Street were closed while crews worked to douse the fire.
As of 9:31 a.m., all lanes of Main Street were reopened.