Downtown Vandalia restaurant destroyed by fire

June 05--Vandalia and Brownstown firefighters battled a fire in downtown Vandalia Monday night and into the early morning hours of Tuesday that destroyed a restaurant across the street from the Old State Capitol building.

At 11:07 p.m. Monday, Vandalia Fire Department firefighters were called to the scene of a structure fire at the Capitol View Steakhouse on the northwest corner of South Fourth Street and West Gallatin Street in downtown Vandalia.

Vandalia Assistant Fire Chief Mark Meadows was the first firefighter to arrive on the scene, directly followed by Vandalia Fire Chief Keith Meadows.

"I called Brownstown right away," Chief Keith Meadows said. "As soon as I pulled up and saw the fire was already shooting through the roof, I thought we were going to need some assistance."

"It was strictly defensive after that," Meadows added.

Brownstown Fire Protection District Assistant Fire Chief Ted Miller said he received a call for assistance at 11:14 p.m.

"We responded with one engine and six personnel," Miller said. "We utilized our deck gun to help these guys out."

Meadows said 24 Vandalia volunteer firefighters were on scene.

Buildings that bordered the restaurant also received some damage, according to Meadows.

Meadows said the building to the north of the Capitol View Steakhouse on the 100 block of South Fourth Street, which was the former home of the Copper Penny Bar and Grille, has a lot of smoke damage and very little water damage.

Meadows said three buildings belonging to Willms and Associates insurance west of the burning structure along the 400 block of West Gallatin Street also received water and smoke damage. He said one of the three buildings suffered some fire damage on the roof.

"We did loose one building, but I feel fortunate that is all we lost," Meadows said.

Meadows said there were no injuries and it was the fourth fire on that property.

The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.

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