When crews first arrived, the risk was too great to send firefighters inside.
CONCORD, CA — A fire early Monday at an abandoned Concord restaurant was determined to be suspicious, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District said.
The blaze was reported around 2:30 a.m. at the former home of Lin’s Buffet, 1400 Willow Pass Road, near Waterworld Parkway. Concord police arrived first and reported the roof was fully engulfed in flames.
“Upon arrival, fire units reported fire through the roof of the abandoned structure,” Con Fire Battalion Chief Dominic Ciotola said in an incident report. “Firefighters began defensive exterior operations, due to the amount of fire presenting, and the risk was too great to send crews interior.”
Photos posted by Con Fire showed the commercial structure fully engulfed in flames. Ladder trucks were used to attack the fire with hoses from above — through the roof area.
Four engines and a total of 30 fire personnel responded to the blaze. PG&E was also at the scene.
The building was boarded up, so crews had to remove boards from windows and doors, Ciotola said.
“There was no gas or electric to the building, so the fire was determined to be suspicious, and fire investigators are looking into the cause of the fire,” Ciotola said.
The fire was contained by around 3:50 p.m., around the same time it was safe for crews to enter the building to search for any possible victims, Con Fire Spokesperson Steve Hill told Patch.
No one was found inside and there were no injuries to firefighters or civilians, Hill said.
Fire investigators remained on the scene for several hours but as of 3 p.m. Monday, they were still working to determine the exact cause of the blaze and a dollar amount , Hill said.
The building was deemed a total loss following the fire, according to Con Fire.
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