It didn’t take long for investigators to determine the cause of an early afternoon fire Friday that destroyed the building that housed the longtime Poor Richard’s Restaurant which closed a few years ago.
“According to the Gainesville Fire Marshal, the fire was due to improper storage of combustible
materials, Gainesville Fire Department (GFD) spokesman Joshua Sheridan said at mid-afternoon. “These materials were stacked on top of an HVAC unit. This caused the fire to spread through
the basement, main floor, and the attic space. Gainesville firefighters were on scene for about three
hours. Our personnel did a great job getting control of a fire that had a big head start before the call was
received.”
Crews arrived about 12:30 to find fire and smoke coming from the building. Firefighters fought the blaze for more than an hour until an all-clear was sounded, Sheridan added. “Park Hill (Drive) was closed
temporarily due to the location of a secondary hydrant being utilized across from the structure. The
building suffered extensive fire damage, along with floor and roof collapse.”
The building was undergoing renovation by the new owner at the time of the fire.