ROSWELL, Ga. — The owners of a Roswell Italian restaurant that caught fire say about 70 people were inside when the fire happened Saturday night.
Channel 2 Action News first covered the story on WSB Tonight Saturday night.
Channel 2’s Cory James said workers at Bellini Osteria Toscana had to quickly get those guests out.
The owner’s son said there have been challenges getting this restaurant off the ground running.
Now they are challenged with getting it back open after a fire caused extensive damage.
The owner, Paul Ardaji, believes the fire started with the flue pipe for the pizza oven. It is the ventilating system that moves smoke and gases away from the oven.
“It was a surreal experience. You see the smoke billowing,” he said.
The manager says it was a worker who noticed something was wrong and flagged them after seeing heavy smoke.
It happened around 7 p.m. Saturday.
The owner’s son, Johnny Ardaji, says he was running food out to tables when they realized a fire was burning through the walls.
When he saw those sparks, he knew something was wrong. “It was like fireworks,” he said.
He said flames were shooting from the roof within seconds.
Johnny Ardaji said he is thankful for Roswell, Milton and Alpharetta firefighters who quickly showed up to help.
“It saved the whole restaurant because if they didn’t respond quick enough the whole roof would have went up, and it would have been way worse,” Johnny Ardaji said.
Roswell fire says the fire spread through the walls and into the attic space, damaging the bar area, parts of the kitchen and even the women’s bathroom.
“I was so afraid someone may have gotten hurt,” said Lawanna Saxon, a Sunday night regular. She said she feels bad for the owners who she says are like family.
“Even coming by tonight after the fire and seeing, oh my God, what happened, they invited us in. They offered us a glass of wine. They are so incredibly accommodating and hospitable,” Saxon said.
This is a family-owned business. They are expecting at least a hundred thousand dollars in damages.
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