Investigation begins for Old West Steakhouse fire

UNION CITY, Tenn. — This was the scene early Sunday morning at Old West Steakhouse in Union City.

“About 1:56 a.m. is when the call came in,” Fire Chief Kelly Edmison with the Union City Fire Department said. “Rolled up and it was pretty much involved at that point.”

Edmison says they knew they wouldn’t be able to send anyone in right away.

“It was up high and had gotten up in the roof. The metal, trying to peel the metal back,” Edmison said.

It took almost five hours to get the fire under control. Monday morning, the fire marshal and other officials were on the scene walking through what was left of the restaurant.

It’s not just the inside that’ll need to be cleaned up, but the parking lot around Old West Steakhouse is littered with things from inside the restaurant.

The majority of the windows have been busted out. They had been decorated for Christmas. There were menus on the ground and even those paper ketchup holders.

We did reach out to the hotel right next to Old West Steakhouse, but no one there Monday morning had been there at the time of the fire on Sunday.

“Trying to find the cause, working with them,” Chief Edmison said about their work on Monday. “Helping the Fire Marshal’s office get some pictures from up above and that sort of thing.”

Chief Edmison says the building is a total loss.

If you have any information about the fire, call the Union City Fire Department at (731) 885-4851.