Popular Jacksonville Restaurant Destroyed by Fire

JACKSONVILLE — A well-known Jacksonville eatery sits empty today, destroyed by fire. KETK reports that firefighters worked for hours Sunday to put out the blaze that destroyed Yum Yum restaurant on Main Street. While authorities say the fire started at around 12:30 Sunday morning, the flames continued until late in the afternoon. Jacksonville Fire Department Captain Randy Ragsdale said, “It’s not safe to put anybody inside because of the danger of collapse so we’re just trying to put in all the water we can with the ladder.”

While no one was in the restaurant at the time of the fire, the loft above the restaurant was a different story. Only one of the loft’s three residents, Jeral Kopelow, was home, but escaped safely. Kopelow says right before the fire started he heard what sounded like two small explosions from the back of the building. Because of the severity of the fire damage, firefighters say they may never find out what started the flames. Captain Ragsdale explains, “I would say at this point it’s going to be hard to determine what started the fire” The one thing that is certain: Yum Yum will be missed. This restaurant had a history of donating food to emergency shelters such as Hope: Helping Others Pursue Enrichment.