San Antonio grease fire

San Antonio firefighters extinguished a grease fire that erupted in a barbecue pit outside of a Northwest Side smokehouse Monday morning, authorities said.

Employees at the Old Smokehouse Real Pit BBQ, located at the intersection of Fredericksburg and Callaghan roads, noticed the fire around 10:15 a.m., District Chief Robert Elizondo of the San Antonio Fire Department said.

The employees were loading wood into a pit next to the restaurant and saw that a grease buildup had ignited, he said. Flames burned through a vent and up the restaurant's smokestack, causing an estimated $15,000 in damages, Elizondo said.

About 30 firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to other businesses in the Corral Center, where the restaurant is located, Elizondo said.

No one was injured in the blaze, he said.

One of the first trucks to arrive on scene is equipped with a type of foam specifically designed to douse grease fires, which are typically difficult to put out, Elizondo said.

The restaurant's owners, who were at the restaurant to assess the damage, declined to comment.