The local Bojangles shut down Tuesday morning due to a gas leak inside the building, one that sparked a cooking appliance fire. No one was injured and the store was open again New Year’s day.
Chuck Thompson | Sampson Independent
Bojangles in Clinton was back on its regular schedule Jan. 1, one day after being shut down in the morning hours of New Year’s Eve after a potential gas leak and a small fire in the kitchen.
At approximately 10:56 a.m., Tuesday, Clinton Fire Department responded to the fast-food restaurant regarding a potential gas line leak. According to reports from Ronald Williams, Clinton fire marshal, a small fire broke out on a cooking apparatus but it was extinguished before fire crews arrived on scene.
“There was a small fire behind one of the cooking appliances and they, Bojangles personnel, extinguished the fire beforehand so there was no fire whenever we got there,” Williams said. “When we were dispatched, it was as a gas leak call, and with that initial dispatch there was no fire, just that they had a gas leak.
“It was then upgraded to a commercial fire call because there was a fire that occurred.”
Clinton Fire Chief Hagan Thornton and Williams both confirmed that Bojangles had to close for clean-up due to grease buildup around the cooking appliance, where the fire occurred. The gas leak occurred in a pipe near the cooking apparatus, causing a spark which led to the small fire.
“Whenever we got there, there was no fire; there was just a gas leak,” Williams reiterated. “So when we got there, we just helped shut the gas off and then they had to do their cleanup. But again, there was no remnants of a fire whenever we got there because they had already extinguished it.”
Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-249-4231. Follow us on Twitter at @SamsponInd, like us on Facebook, and check out our Instagram at @thesampsonindependent.