By Steve Huffman
Salisbury Post
A discarded cigarette is blamed for causing a fire that damaged a Salisbury restaurant Sunday afternoon.
The fire was reported at Captain D’s Restaurant at 707 E. Innes St. at 4:22 p.m.
Battalion Chief Currie Butler of the Salisbury Fire Department said the fire damaged the building’s exterior, near the restaurant’s drive-through window.
He said firefighters believe the blaze was accidental, and said it’s likely that someone threw a cigarette into pine needles near the drive-through.
Wind gusts likely kindled the cigarette, Butler said, eventually causing the pine needles to ignite. The fire spread to the building’s wood exterior.
But Butler said that beneath the wood is cement, and said the fire caused only about $2,000 in damage.
“The building itself is not that badly damaged,” Butler said.
He said the building was evacuated by the time firefighters arrived. There were no injuries.
“We got it under control fairly quickly,” Butler said.
A man who answered the phone at the restaurant Sunday night said the business was already reopened.
Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@salisburypost.com.