The Lubbock Fire Marshal’s Office has now ruled the cause of the fire that broke out of a local central Lubbock restaurant as accidental, with an unknown origin.
The restaurant, “Hayashi Midtown,” is located within a strip mall located at 19th Street and Louiville Avenue. Officials say the business suffered 30% damage, and nearby businesses within the same strip mall also sustained some smoke damage.
Fire crews were called out to the scene just before 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. Officials say the fire appeared to have started in the dining area.
Jeannine Kelley, the client specialist for Devault Floral located right next door to Hayashi Midtown says the scene was quite the surprise for her when she arrived into work.
“Not a typical Tuesday. I pulled up this morning about 8:20 ready to start my day, I pulled up to several engines from Lubbock Fire Department doing a diligent job, maintaining and putting out a fire down here at one of our local businesses,” said Kelley, who said she was not even able to enter her business for a large part of the morning due to the heavy smell of smoke.
“Just standing on the sidewalk, is extremely intense it’s just rolling out of the shop as we speak,” said Kelley.
Despite the smokey odor, several nearby businesses and restaurants say the fire will not hinder their operations, and shared they plan to remain open within normal business hours.
“We’re receiving our wholesale floral deliveries and taking them to an off site location and making them at home,” said Kelley. “Off site, wherever we can get it done, it won’t stop us from getting the beauty to people and making their day bright.”
