INA – A popular BBQ restaurant in Southern Illinois suffered a devastating fire Sunday morning but the owners are vowing to rebuild and reopen.
According to Jefferson Fire Protection District, they were notified around 9:14 a.m. Sunday of a fire at Uncle Joe’s Restaurant at 201 Taylor Street in Ina.
The caller reported smoke inside the building and smell of burning. Before firefighters arrived at the scene, dispatch received additional calls reporting flames were coming from the building.
Mutual aid was activated, with Mt. Vernon, Webber, Waltonville, Benton, Ewing-Northern and Sesser fire departments responding to assist at the scene.
Construction on the building made it difficult for firefighters to reach the seat of the fire and crews were pulled out for a period of time.
Mt. Vernon’s aerial was used to open the roof and extinguish the bulk of the fire, which allowed firefighters to re-enter the structure to extinguish the remaining fire and complete a very extensive overhaul.
There were no injuries as a result of the fire. Crews remained on scene for close to six hours. The fire origin and cause remains under investigation at this time.
Litton Ambulance and United Medical Response were also standing by at scene. JCSO Deputies assisted with traffic control, and Ameren power and gas responded to secure the utilities.
Woodlawn Fire Protection and Wayne City Fire Department stood by at the Ina station and Wayne City firefighters assisted during that time with a field fire.