Officials are investigating the cause of an early morning blaze that ripped through the McDonald’s restaurant near the intersection of Easton Road and East State Street in Doylestown Sept. 21.
Doylestown Borough Fire Marshal Scott Fleischer said Wednesday that a structural engineer was looking at the restaurant this week because the center of the building needs to be shored up before investigators can get inside.
Doylestown Fire Co. firefighters fought the blaze, arriving shortly after the 1:49 a.m. alarm to find smoke filling the building. Larry Browne, the fire company’s public information officer, said the interior roof structure collapsed into the kitchen, and the roof became unstable.
“The smoke condition was the biggest thing,” he added.
Just prior to the fire call, Central Bucks Regional Police received a report of the burglar alarm sounding at the McDonald’s and went to check on the building. A police officer could not see inside the window, found it hot to the touch, he said, and alerted the fire company.
Firefighters had the fire under control by 2:52 a.m., and remained on scene until 5:50 a.m. One firefighter sustained minor injuries, Browne said.
Fleischer said thus far the cause of the fire does not appear to be suspicious. Browne said it is up to the owner’s insurance company to determine, but the building appears to be destroyed.
Assisting Doylestown Fire Co. were Plumsteadville, Midway, Warrington, Lingohocken and Hartsville fire companies, Central Bucks Ambulance and fire police from the area.
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