A fire investigator says early estimates have put the cost a blaze that tore through a Hungry Jack’s restaurant in Hobart’s north overnight at more than $5 million.
The Glenorchy store was completely destroyed in the fire, which prompted a large response from firefighters from Hobart, Glenorchy, Claremont and Clarence just after 8:30pm on Tuesday.
Tasmania Fire Service Regional Fire Investigator Tim McKay said the building was “well involved” upon their arrival.
“This is a significant fire and the fact that there are no injuries is largely attributable to the quick thinking of the staff here at Hungry Jack’s,” he said.
“I’d like to take the opportunity to praise the staff at Hungry Jack’s for evacuating not only all the patrons that were in the store but the staff as well.”
McKay said early investigations indicate the fire started in the kitchen and appears to be accidental.
“Wherever we do have cooking appliances, whether it’s in a restaurant, in the home or any other environment, we do have a potential for fire,” he said.
“So we’d urge people to be really careful of those cooking appliances and not leave them unattended.”
The restaurant is likely to be demolished upon the completion of the fire investigation.
“The scene examination stage of the investigation is likely to take a number of days,” he said.
“It’s going to take us quite some time and the use of machines to actually fully excavate the scene and get down to where we think the fire started.”
“There’s a number of witnesses that we’ll need to interview and talk to over the coming days to really understand how and where this fire started.”
