A malfunctioning refrigerator caused the fire that damaged Little Rock’s Midtown Billiards on Tuesday, a fire department official said.
Capt. Jason Weaver, a spokesman for the Little Rock Fire Department, said the fire marshal determined that the faulty appliance “generated enough heat” that the objects around it caught fire.
The refrigerator was located next to a grill in the kitchen toward the front of the building, Weaver said. The fire marshal determined the blaze was accidental after ruling out all other possibilities.
[GALLERY: Click here to see scene of Midtown Billiards fire.]
At 11:04 a.m. Tuesday, firefighters responded to the bar at 1316 Main St. and saw heavy smoke coming from the building, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported. There were no injuries — the bar was closed at the time — and the blaze was extinguished in about 20 minutes.
David Shipps, the general manager of Midtown Billiards, said Tuesday that the damaged bar plans to rebuild and reopen.