Fire engulfs Guadalajara Restaurant, manager remains optimistic

Firefighters respond to a fire call at Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant at 12:55 a.m. Saturday morning. The fire started from the kitchen area of the restaurant.

Phu Nguyen, Photo Chief & Sara Bertsch, Editor-in-Chief

Little damage was caused in a fire at the Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant early Saturday morning.

The Brookings Fire Department responded to the call at 12:55 a.m. about smoke coming from the restaurant, which is located in a strip mall at 1715 Sixth Street.

No one was injured in the fire.

When firefighters arrived on scene, the building was engulfed in smoke and flames were coming from the roof.

The cause of the fire is believed to come from the hood above the range in the kitchen area according to Brookings Fire Assistant Chief Gary DeBeer.

Jose Vega, Guadalajara’s manager, also arrived on scene. He believes that a poor cleaning job caused the fire.

“We called a company to clean the kitchen three months ago and they didn’t do a good job,” Vega said.

The damage was limited to the range hood and a hole caused by firefighters to extinguish the flames, Vega said. He remains optimistic that the restaurant will open back soon.

“It’s not bad at all,” Vega said. “It’s not a big deal. We can probably reopen tomorrow afternoon.”