A Friendly's restaurant in Catonsville will be closed Friday after a fire caused damage to the roof of the building on Frederick Road, restaurant manager Omar Williams said.
"There's no way we could open today," Williams said.
Williams said after he turned on the heat at the chain's Catonsville location Friday morning he noticed smoke coming from the roof.
"When I smelled smoke we turned the unit off," Williams said. "We caught it in time before it burned up the building."
Baltimore County firefighters responded to the call at 6:37 a.m. and saw smoke billowing from the rear roof area of the restaurant, according to county Firefighter Dana Camak. The restaurant is located less than 500 feet from the Catonsville Fire Department.
Twelve pieces of equipment, including fire trucks, engines and two medic units responded, Camak said.
The fire was contained at 7:07 a.m., he said.
Firefighters determined the fire was in the vent system, Camak said. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, he said.
There is no pending arson investigation, although a health inspector was sent to to location, part of the protocol when there is a fire at a food establishment, Camak said.
Williams said restaurant employees are cleaning up what they can, but are waiting for experts to assess damage to the roof.
"It's just stressful, we're trying to get everything back together, " Williams said.