The future of the Golden Corral restaurant in Fort Oglethorpe is uncertain after being engulfed in fire Wednesday morning.
Firefighters responding to a 911 call around 12:10 a.m. found flames rising from the east side of the building, a closed-off part of the restaurant where groups sometimes gather in privacy, Fort Oglethorpe Fire Chief Bruce Ballew said. He said firefighters extinguished flames until about 5 a.m.
Ballew said most of the restaurant’s dining area burned down and other parts of the building were probably a “total loss” because of damage from flames, smoke and water.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and Ballew said a state fire marshal had been on the scene since Wednesday morning. Nobody was in the building when reports of the fire emerged, Ballew said.
The Golden Corral, located at 760 Battlefield Parkway, could hold about 250 diners, according to a 2005 Times Free Press story. At the time, the restaurant’s owners were celebrating an expansion from 5,000 square feet to 8,000 square feet – a testament to how popular the buffet was in Fort Oglethorpe.