Vacant Concord restaurant building gutted by fire

CONCORD, CA (July 12, 2021) — Firefighters battled a fire that gutted a former restaurant in Concord early Monday morning.

The building on Willow Pass Road has housed several restaurants over the years. Some may recall eating at the Hungry Hunter at this location.

Lin’s Chinese Buffet most recently operated there, but it closed 4 years ago.Two years ago the fast food chain Chick-Fil-A looked at the property but that deal did not go through. Zoning issues and public opposition to the chain may have had an impact on the project. The building has been empty and boarded up for years.

Contra Costa Fire officials said that homeless people had been staying in the building. There was no gas or electric to the building, so the fire was determined to be suspicious, and fire investigators are looking into the cause of the fire.

Firefighters arrived to find flames shooting through the roof of the building and began defensive exterior operations, due to the amount of fire presenting. Because of the intensity of the fire, the risk was too great to send crews inside.

Two additional ladder trucks arrived on scene to help fight the fire. Crews extinguished the fire after about an hour.