“He tried putting it out with a fire extinguisher but it was just too much,” said cook Daniel Murillo.
That’s when staff called 911 and told the customers to evacuate the restaurant.
Customer Miguel Alvarado said he was sitting near the kitchen and had just gotten his meal when he heard the alarm go off and then the sprinkler went off.
People left the restaurant in a mostly calm fashion but some of the kids were crying, an employee said.
An ambulance had been dispatched to the restaurant minutes earlier for an unrelated medical call, Schwarz said. Employees had the restaurant completely evacuated by the time firefighters arrived. The fire was completely contained to the attic above the kitchen, Schwarz said. Six firefighters worked to pull soggy, burned insulation from the ceiling.
“Denny’s is going to be closed down for a few days until they can get an electrician in here and make repairs to the ceiling,” he said.