Popular all-you-can-eat buffet temporarily shuts down after fire

A grill left burning at Golden Corral ignited a fire early Saturday in the kitchen and temporarily shut down the popular buffet restaurant at 1505 Manchester Expressway, officials said.

A note at the entrance of the restaurant said the eatery would be closed for 10 days. It is expected to reopen by July 1 , according to a note to customers on the door.

The fire ignited about 3:02 a.m. Saturday, but it was contained by suppression equipment in the restaurant kitchen, said Fire Marshal Ricky Shores of the Columbus Department of Fire & Emergency Medical Services.

"If it hadn't been installed and kept up, you could have possibly lost the whole building," Shores said of the system, which includes an automated sprinkler. "If you don't have those systems in, you are going to lose the whole building."

Firefighters found smoke and the fire contained in the kitchen area. It took about 30 minutes to get the fire under control and firefighters were on the scene for two hours. The fire was accidental, he said.

Shores said the building had extensive damage from smoke and water. There also is damage to the service area, with wet carpets . That's one of the concerns with automated suppression system.

"They do not turn off," he said.

The system helped to contain the fire.

"It looks like the suppression unit built into the store did its job," he said.

Servpro of Columbus, a company that specializes in cleanup and restoration after a fire, smoke and water damage, had equipment on the scene Tuesday at the restaurant. Customers were cruising through the parking lot trying to determine what temporarily shutdown the restaurant.

This story was originally published June 26, 2018 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Popular all-you-can-eat buffet temporarily shuts down after fire."