Two failures

Employee calls firefighters to Southside restaurant
By Mike Baird (Contact)
Originally published 06:13 a.m., September 1, 2009
Updated 09:55 a.m., September 1, 2009

CORPUS CHRISTI — Chick-Fil-A opened for business at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday despite firefighters being called to the restaurant at 5:22 a.m. An employee called police after she saw smoke coming from the roof as she arrived to work.

After getting inside, firefighters found a deep fryer that was overheated and pouring steam throughout the restaurant in the 4700 block of South Padre Island Drive, fire officials said.

Firefighters shut off an electrical breaker on the roof, which stopped the steam immediately, and the building was ventilated with a fan.

Other employees had arrived by the time the problem was controlled at 5:40 a.m., and there was no damage to the building, officials said.

Customers and employees were in no way affected, restaurant management said. The restaurant is open from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday.