Firefighters battle blaze at Bono’s near Town Center

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Firefighters worked to put out a fire Monday night at the Bono’s Pit Bar-B-Q near the Town Center.

The fire was reported just before 10 p.m. at the barbecue restaurant on Skinner Lake Drive at Gate Parkway, and smoke could be seen pouring out of the building.

According to the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, the fire took 50 minutes to put out, and the blaze was under control as of 10:50 p.m.

Firefighters said it’s believed the blaze started in the attic, but the cause was not immediately known.

JFRD said four employees were inside when the fire started. No injuries were reported.

The owner, Joe Adeeb, told News4Jax one of the employees was in the back of the building and saw smoke near the smoker. He’s thankful there were only four people inside.

“First of all, thanks to all of the firefighters, I think we have like 15 trucks here," Adeeb said. "Thank goodness we had only a handful of employees, one of our people noticed it out back and got everyone out back.”

The owner said he’s not sure what’s next because the restaurant is so heavily damaged but, fortunately, they have several other restaurants, so the employees at the restaurant on Skinner Lake Drive can work at the others. But he hopes to rebuild.

The state fire marshal was called to investigate.