Just hours after a fire that started in a restaurant roared through parts of downtown Blue Ridge Saturday afternoon and 50 miles to the south, fire struck a downtown Dawsonville restaurant.
“Dawson County Emergency Services responded to a reported structure fire on Saturday night at approximately 1030pm,” Dawson County Fire Chief Troy Leist wrote in a Monday afternoon email. “Crews arrived and found heavy smoke and fire from the rear of the restaurant. The crews made an aggressive interior fire attack and were able to confine the fire to the kitchen area.”
Leist added that the rest of the building sustained moderate heat and smoke damage and that the cause of the fire is under investigation.
“We have read the social media reports that the building exploded. These reports are false,” he said. “While operating at the fire, crews heard a loud boom which was similar to a sonic boom. It is our understanding that the boom was a sonic boom from an unknown source and completely unrelated to the fire.”