The Old Towne Restaurant on King Street in downtown Charleston caught fire Tuesday morning. Mark Ruppel with the Charleston Fire Department says when the fire crews first arrived they found flames and heavy smoke. Ruppel says they have determined the cause.
“Crews were doing construction on the roof at approximately 7 a.m. this morning. They used power tools to cut a hole in the roof and then left to get more material, and the cause is the power tools of some sort, and it’s accidental,” says Ruppel.
The fire crews has the fire out in about an hour, but the restaurant was a major loss.
“The buildings are so close together on King Street that it is a dangerous fire, but our guys did a great job at containing it,” says Ruppel.
Area businesses in Charleston were evacuated and closed because of the heavy smoke in the area.
