A simple sign stands tall in front of the charred remains of Zydeco’s Cajun Restaurant. In large block letters, the owners use the sign to thank family, friends, patrons and the community for their support following a blaze that gutted the popular eatery.
The last two words on the sign – “We’ll Return.”
By Tuesday morning, Zydeco’s Cajun Restaurant, a beloved landmark in St. Charles Parish, lay in burned and twisted ruins after an intense fire totaled the building on Memorial Day.
Upon arriving on the scene around 4 p.m., Luling Volunteer Fire Department Chief Craig Petit said they found the family-owned business engulfed in smoke and flames coming out the rear corner of the building.
“It was terrible. It looked fully involved in the roof area,” Petit said.
Cause of the fire is difficult to pinpoint, Petit said, particularly “because the flames were running rampant in the roof area.”
Deputy State Fire Marshal Brant Thompson said the investigation is leaning toward a lightning strike as cause of the fire based on witness accounts, surveillance video and a strong line of thunderstorms that came through the area at about the same time as the fire was reported.
“In this fire, we have not found anything to be suspicious or an intentionally set fire,” Thompson said of arson as a possible cause.
The Fire Marshal’s Office is requesting a weather report from the National Weather Service and has video surveillance from other nearby businesses that may have captured evidence of lightning strikes.
Thompson estimated the fire caused $1 million of damage to the estimated 10,000 square-foot building.
Capt. Brian Tauzin, accompanied by two fire marshals, were on the scene Tuesday and are expected to return for additional investigation.
Restaurant co-owner Rosemarie Gainey was on the scene briefly Tuesday morning. Gainey spoke with the marshals, but said that she was still in shock over the loss.
Nearly 50 firefighters from Luling, Paradis, Des Allemands, East St. Charles, Hahnville and Lafourche Parish volunteer fire departments responded to the blaze.
Petit said an attempt was made to fight it from the exterior, but firefighters decided to go through the roof to attempt the flood the building.
“The challenge was the roof structure,” said Petit of cutting through two to three layers of roofing to reach a fire they fought more than five hours. Firefighters didn’t leave the scene until 1 a.m. Tuesday.
Petit and Thompson say the building also had crawl spaces from earlier additions that allowed the fire to travel throughout the structure.
The parish provided equipment to cut through the roofs.Petit, an area native, said he anticipated structural challenges, as well as had plans showing the multiple roofs, which posed time consuming obstacles to reaching the fire.
By the time the roofing was cleared, he said the building was engulfed in flames and a total loss.
The restaurant was closed for Memorial Day so there were no customers in the building at the time of the fire, which Petit called “a blessing.”
On Tuesday, a steady flow of people stopped by the burned restaurant to take photographs or simply to see a much beloved place lost.
Among them was Shannon “Nicole” Scott of Boutte, a server at the restaurant for more than a year, who said, “I can’t believe this is happening. Everybody’s family so I know it’s going to be okay. This is a great tragedy.”
Scott praised restaurant owners as great employers and recounted how customers drove up to two hours to eat there. She added, “I’m not going anywhere because I know they’re going to rebuild,” she said. “I think it’ll come back, and it’ll be bigger and better.”
Petit said the building was built in the early 1980s. It survived a small fire in the early 1990s, and he thought it may have survived a tornado with some damage later on.
Zydeco’s was the latest name for the location.
“It’s disastrous, and especially when you learn there were 30 to 40 employees there,” the fire chief said. “It was a popular meeting place for groups like the Rotary. It’s a big loss to the parish.”
Be the first to comment