Cause of Chili's Fire Determined

The fire that last Friday, Aug. 26, was due to the improper use of an open flame, which ignited roofing materials, Fire Marshall Don Wood said.

A contractor had been performing repair work on the building's roof on Thursday, Wood said. With this type of roof, a propane torch is used to heat the edges of the roofing material, then pushed down to seal it. 

The contractors stopped working about 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, and it appears that the fire was smoldering from that point until it ignited early morning on Friday, Wood said.  Chili's patrons and employees smelled rubber burning early in the evening, then smelled smoke, but did not call the fire department, according to Wood.

The fire eventually caused the roof to ignite.

Shortly before 3 a.m. on Aug. 26, patrons at Minella's Diner noticed that Chili's was on fire, Wood said. Radnor police were on patrol in the area, and reported at 2:54 a.m. that it was a working fire.

"I got to the scene about 3:05 and there was already a fire truck there," Wood said.

Engines and/or ladders from Berwyn, Paoli, Malvern, Lionville, King of Prussia, Newtown Square, Broomall, Gladwyne, Narberth Medics and Radnor and Bryn Mawr were all on scene.

There were so many different engines because the roof began to collapse and the firefighters couldn't work inside to put out the flames, Wood said. "[We] had to switch to exterior operations, so [we] had to use a lot of pipes."

The images above were shot around 4 a.m. on Friday morning.