SAN ANTONIO – The flames and smoke have been virtually not possible to overlook for anybody driving alongside an East Side freeway early Thursday morning.
According to San Antonio firefighters, a fireplace that began contained in the kitchen of a Denny’s restaurant close to Interstate 10 and Foster Road rapidly unfold all through the whole constructing.
The big fireball not solely destroyed the restaurant, however the Flying J truck cease and comfort retailer connected to it.
Truck driver Matt McClellan, who had stopped there for the evening, one way or the other slept via all of it.
“I’m parked right there,” he mentioned, pointing to his truck, which was parked about 100 yards from the burning constructing. “I didn’t hear a thing. I was out like a light.”
McClellan couldn’t consider what he noticed when he awoke, dozens of fireside vans surrounding the burned-out shell of a constructing.
“It’s, like I mean, literally the whole building. I was just there last night,” he mentioned, incredulously.
Firefighters, in the meantime, have been there for hours Thursday morning, simply making an attempt to quench the livid flames that they discovered after they arrived shortly after 5 a.m.
“(They) went in to extinguish the fire. The fire got up in the hood system, got up in the attic and went through the roof,” mentioned Fire Chief Charles Hood, describing how rapidly it unfold.
He mentioned the primary crews who arrived known as for backup. At one level, there have been greater than a dozen fireplace crews and equipment on the scene.
Hood says one truck apparently obtained too near the fireplace and was broken.
“Once we put the supply lines in, we can’t move those trucks. The winds changed on us,” Hood mentioned.
The fireplace additionally burned dangerously near gasoline strains and a gasoline shut off valve, he mentioned.
At the time when it broke out, Hood mentioned, there have been greater than 50 massive rigs parked on the truck cease.
Some of these briefly have been within the hazard zone. It appeared a few of them have been left coated in soot from the smoke.
Hood mentioned nobody was injured by the fireplace.
Pilot, the dad or mum firm for Flying J, later issued the next assertion:
“We are relieved to report that all of our Team Members and Guests have been accounted for and are safe after the fire that occurred at our Flying J travel center in San Antonio, Texas. We thank the San Antonio Fire Department and First Responders for their quick response and action to control the fire. We are cooperating with the local officials as they investigate the cause, and we ask you to direct any inquiries to the proper authorities.
The safety of our Team Members and Guests is our top priority. We are grateful to our Team Members and responders at the scene who helped ensure everyone on property was able to evacuate the building safely. We are providing support resources to our valued Team Members and will make jobs available to them at nearby travel centers while we work to restore this location.”
A spokesperson for Denny’s despatched KSAT the next assertion:
“Denny’s is very pleased to know that there were no injuries during the fire that took place at the Flying J Travel Center. Furthermore, we are grateful that our restaurant at this location was closed at the time, and no employees or guests were on the premises. The safety and wellbeing of our guests and team members is always our top priority. We appreciate the San Antonio Fire Department and First Responders for their tireless efforts to control the fire and are working with them to support their investigation in any way we can. In the meantime, we will be providing positions at other Denny’s locations in the San Antonio area to ensure none of our team members are without employment during this time.”
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