Fire with thick, black smoke severely damages Fort Worth BBQ restaurant in strip mall
A kitchen fire broke out early Thursday morning inside of a west Fort Worth barbecue restaurant located in a Camp Bowie West strip shopping center, severely damaging the business and sending thick black smoke into the air.
There were no reported injuries. But Spring Creek Barbecue, which was set to open for lunch at 11 a.m., will be closed indefinitely for repairs, owner Chris Carroll said.
Firefighters responded to the restaurant in the 8600 block of Camp Bowie West Boulevard around 4:45 a.m., Mike Drivdahl, a Fort Worth Fire Department spokesman, said. Although they encountered “heavy” and “thick” smoke that reduced visibility, he said, they discovered the fire was originating from the rear of the building in the kitchen.
They had the blaze under control within 30 minutes, he said. But the department still signaled for more units to respond, he said, in part due to the size of the building and the fact it’s situated alongside several other businesses in the strip mall at Camp Bowie West and Las Vegas Trail.
The fire was contained to the kitchen, which was mostly destroyed and turned black and charred, he said. The rest of the restaurant sustained heat, smoke and water damage.
“Our goal is to clean this thing up as quickly as possible and reopen,” Carroll said. The location was the second in the Arlington-based Spring Creek chain and opened almost 40 years ago, he said.
Around 60 firefighters were on-scene Thursday morning putting out the fire, dealing with the hazy and smoky conditions, Drivdahl said. The fire was out by around 5:20 a.m.
“Any time that you have a large building that is full of that thick, black, dense smoke, our firefighters are challenged with visibility,” he said. “Knowing those buildings makes a big difference.”
He noted when he was a member of the Station 23 battalion that responded first Thursday morning, he remembers inspecting this building in the strip mall.
It wasn’t immediately clear what led to the fire Thursday morning but investigators were on the scene, Drivdahl said.
Spring Creek Barbecue has more than 30 locations across Texas, according to its website.
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 8:48 AM.
