ATHENS, Tenn. – As many as 50 firefighters from four counties converged on the Country Patch restaurant here around noon after a caller reported a fire with people trapped inside.
Jim Dyer, a spokesman with the Athens Fire Department, said his department received the call about 11:45 a.m., but no one was trapped when units arrived at the Highway 30 location.
“It’s an Athens landmark,” he said. “Everybody eats here.”
Dyer said most of the fire was confined to the restaurant’s attic, and firefighters were attacking it from outside. Some fires remained inside the walls early this afternoon, he said
He said the owner of the restaurant was shaken up and taken to a hospital but uninjured. The building’s roof mostly was gone, he said.
Dyer said the cause of the fire was under investigation.