Fire causes roof to collapse on several Arlington businesses

ARLINGTON, Texas - Officials say all six units in an Arlington building were heavily damaged after a fire caused the building's roof to collapse on Monday afternoon.

Arlington restaurant fire

What we know:

A 4-alarm fire broke out at a building containing the Beirut Grill and other businesses in Arlington on Monday evening. The building's roof collapsed due to the blaze.

The restaurant is located at 2410 W Abrams Street, and is near Bowen Road and Division Street. The building Beirut Grill is located in has six total units, and officials said three units suffered fire damage and three suffered smoke damage.

Officials said all items inside the building are likely lost.

Arlington Fire says no injuries have been reported from the fire, and there were no evacuations from the building because the restaurant was closed on Monday.

Several other businesses are located in the same building as Beirut Grill, and were also closed on Monday. 

80 firefighters responded to the fire. Firefighters were forced to fight the blaze from a distance due to its strength.

What they're saying:

Two people whose businesses were located in the building spoke to FOX 4's David Sentendrey about seeing the building go up in flames.

"A year ago we were renovating and building it up," Kait Thiveaux, who owns Folklore Grove Book Store in the building that caught fire, tells Sentendrey. "A year later, we're watching it burn down."

We literally have been texting our event director, and things like that planning ‘Hey, what’s our 1-year anniversary?’" Bobby King, who owns Smash Toast in the building, tells Sentendrey. "Now our 1-year anniversary is picking up ashes. It's a different plan than we envisioned for sure."

Several residents stopped by just to see the fire.

"I was on my way home from work and saw the smoke up in the sky, and we drove by," Ashley Bumpers, an Arlington resident, tells FOX 4's David Sentendrey. "I used to work at the restaurant right behind it and just live right across the street. So, we drove by and saw how bad it was.."

What we don't know:

We don't know the cause of the fire, and Arlington Police said they likely won't be able to enter the building until tomorrow to determine the cause.

ArlingtonCrime and Public Safety