CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A fire was reported at the Hi-Ho Restaurant in Corpus Christi on Friday morning.
Corpus Christi Fire Department Battalion Chief David Saenz said crews received a call reporting smoke from the restaurant at about 10 a.m.
When they arrived, Saenz said the restaurant's owners were evacuating the building and smoke could be seen coming from the West Side staple's back wall and roof.
"All of the sudden they started telling us to get out," said prep cook Gilbert Rodriguez.
After searching the inside of the eatery for flames, firefighters found the fire between the roof and the restaurant's interior ceiling.
Saenz said holes had to be cut into the roof to access the fire. He said most of the damage is water damage and it is concentrated in the restaurant's back kitchen area, but the fire was not inside the kitchen itself.
"It's gonna take some clean-up to get this operation going again," he said.
It is currently unknown what caused the fire. Investigators said they would be looking into that throughout the day.
"We're pretty sure it started up on the roof," he said.
Rodriguez said he never saw fire, just smelled smoke, and that employees believe the incident was caused by tar being used to repair the restaurant's roof.
Alessandra Herrera, who works at the restaurant as a cook, told 3NEWS that she wasn't at the restaurant when the commotion began, but she lives nearby and came to see what was happening at the iconic eatery.
"We have a lot of people come here," she said. "We have tourists coming here from New York and other states just to see this restaurant."
Tourists aren't the only ones drawn to the Hi-Ho.
"We, as firefighters, come here quite frequently and we enjoy the patronage in here," Saenz said. "They've got great food. We're going to miss it for a while, but he's definitely gonna make it better and come back stronger."
Saenz said because damage to the restaurant is what firefighters classify as "minimal," he's confident it'll be able to re-open soon.
"We don't, certainly, wanna see this kind of outcome, but fortunate enough that we got it out very quick," he said. "It could have been a total loss. It's not. . . . and he will be open again."
Herrera also looks forward to the Hi-Ho reopening .
"It would have been really bad if it had gotten worse, but hopefully we'll be able to be open again in a few weeks," she said. "Or next week, at least."