A two-alarm fire ripped through a McDonald’s restaurant in Spring Valley early Tuesday morning, sending flames through the roof and gutting the fast-food eatery, officials said.
The blaze may have started in the basement and smoldered for a while before someone spotted smoke and called it in, said San Miguel Fire-Rescue District Battalion Chief Brian Lieberman. The cause is under investigation, although officials do not consider it suspicious, Lieberman said.
A sheriff’s official said someone called 911 to report the fire shortly before 3 a.m. at the business on Jamacha Boulevard near state Route 125.
When San Miguel firefighters arrived, crews found light white smoke coming from the restaurant. Inside, they discovered smoke throughout the building, including in the basement. As crews looked for the source of the fire, they found “a lot of heat” in the walls as well as fire in the attic and in “void spaces” near the roof, Lieberman said.
“When we got there, the building was completely charged with smoke,” he said.
As firefighters worked to punch holes in the roof, the fire “escalated quickly,” Lieberman said. Video shot by OnScene.TV showed flames shooting into the air. Firefighters who had been on the roof pulled back.
Lieberman said firefighters shifted to a defensive posture and focused on spraying water onto the building from nearby ladder trucks.
“We were looking for the fire, and once we found it, there was so much fire underneath, it was too far gone. We had to pull everyone out,” Lieberman said.
The fire was confined to the McDonald’s, and no one was reported injured. Lieberman said the business was closed at the time. He estimated the damage to be around $3 million.
The blaze was still smoldering hours later, and as of 10 a.m., one truck remained at the scene to ensure it didn’t flare up.
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