Massive fire consumes Harker Heights businesses

Update: Fire guts Heights restaurant
A fire consumed a restaurant in the 100 block of West Veterans Memorial Boulevard on Sunday night. Portions of the Texas Grill BBQ and Crab Shack restaurant’s charred roof lay on the ground Monday, while the smell of smoke hung in the air.

“The estimated damage to the structure is approximately $150,000,” a Harker Heights Fire Department news release stated.

Harker Heights and Killeen firefighters responded to the fire on Sunday after a passer-by reported the blaze. The HHFD was the first on the scene at 11:47 p.m., Deputy Chief Glenn Gallenstein said. Killeen firefighters arrived moments later because of an automatic aid agreement.

The firefighters first attacked the interior but withdrew when the flames became too hot and the fire was too high. Once outside the building, firefighters started a defensive attack using ladder trucks, Gallenstein said. It took the firefighters about 30 minutes to get the fire under control, the release stated. The fire was out about 1:45 a.m., Gallenstein said.

“It was scary,” said Nancy Grenier, a resident who lives near the restaurant. “Those flames were just shooting up.”

Grenier was asleep at the time of the fire, but the smoke woke her, she said. She rushed outside to see firefighters on the scene battling the blaze.

“I thought, ‘This is horrible,’” she said.

Firefighters continued to put out hot spots at the restaurant on Monday with one call coming in about 10 a.m.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation by Fire Marshal Steve Philen. The owner of the establishment had contractors assessing the damage Monday.
By Mason W. Canales in The Killeen Daily Herald
__________
Two businesses were damaged in a late night fire Sunday in Harker Heights. Firefighters from Harker Heights and Killeen responded to the blaze at 110 W. Veterans Memorial Boulevard just before 12:00 a.m.

News Channel 25 news crew was on the scene as The Texas Grill BBQ and Crab Shack and PKV Worldwide Wireless went up in flames.
Story and photo by Lauren Keeffe at KXXV News, Waco Temple Killeen
Video report and update from KWTX News in Waco