Smoke And Water Damaged Entire Restaurant; Hooter’s Closed

Extensive damage reported at Hooter’s in Joliet due to an early morning fire. An automatic alarm alerted the Joliet Fire Department to a restaurant fire across from the Louis Joliet Mall. Company 8 responded to an automated call from Hooter’s restaurant at 4:17 a.m. today. Joliet Deputy Fire Chief Greg Blaskey says no one was there at time of the fire.

Seventeen firefighters with equipment from four stations were called to the fire. When crews arrived on the scene they could see smoke from the roof and coming out of the vents of the building. A thermal-imager was used to locate the fire in the kitchen. Blaskey says the entire restaurant was filled with smoke and water damage.

The outside of the building did not suffer any damage. The restaurant was just remodeled and now it will have to close to deal with smoke and fire damage. No word on the cause of the fire.