UPDATE: A restaurant employee confirmed that the store will reopen at 8 PM Tuesday night after a Health Department Inspection.
(Effingham) — The recently opened Effingham Chipotle was evacuated Tuesday night after employees saw what one described as “black smoke” coming down from the rafters. Shortly after, Hassan Hovis said the order was given to evacuate the restaurant and call the fire department.
According to Assistant Fire Chief Matthew Kulesza, the Effingham Fire Department received a call around 6:30 p.m. that said that the restaurant had filled with smoke. The department arrived in the midst of the evacuation.
While Assistant Chief Kulesza was not sure on the cause of the smoke, he suspects that it’s some sort of “condensation style mist.”
The restaurant was deemed safe for the employees to reenter and test of some of the systems. Whether or not, they’ll reopen Tuesday night or Wednesday morning is up the the Effingham County Health Department, said Assistant Chief Kulesza. No one was injured.