Columbia-Richland Fire Department investigators have determined that the early Friday morning fire that heavily damaged a popular Five Points restaurant was deliberately set.
“We have a person of interest we’d like to talk to about this fire,” spokesman Brick Lewis said.
A photograph taken by a surveillance camera was released to the public in an effort to identify the person seen walking in the vicinity around the time the fire started.
Fire investigators want to talk to this person, captured on a surveillance camera in the vicinity of the Salty Nut Cafe around the time the fire started.
/Columbia-Richland Fire Departmen
- Kim Kim Foster-Tobin /kkfoster@thestate.com
SLED investigator Jason Harbaugh sifts through debris looking for evidence, Friday afternoon. SLED agents and City Fire Department investigators look through the debris for clues as to how a fire started early Friday morning at Salty Nut Cafe on Greene Street in Columbia.
- Kim Kim Foster-Tobin /kkfoster@thestate.com
- Kim Kim Foster-Tobin /kkfoster@thestate.com
- TIM DOMINICK /tdominick@thestate.com
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The fire department was notified around 4:30 a.m. of heavy black smoke coming out of the Salty Nut Cafe at 2000 Greene St., Lewis said.
The fire was under control in about 30 minutes. There were no injuries. Investigators estimated the damage at $300,000.
The 2000 block of Greene Street was closed to traffic Friday morning, while firefighters and investigators were on the scene.
The fire gutted the inside of the restuarant, and firefighters were shoveling out wet, blackened pieces of furniture and wood. A haze of smoke lingered over the area late Friday morning.
The Salty Nut Cafe is a popular Five Points hang out, known for its large, elevated back deck. On sunny days and warm nights, party-goers fill the deck as they shell peanuts and sip beer.
The cafe’s owner, who was on the scene Friday morning, declined to comment about the fire.
Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins asks that anyone with information on the identity of the individual photographed in the area, and his whereabouts, to contact the South Carolina Arson Hotline at 800-92-ARSON (800-922-7766).
Contributing: Kelly Davis, Rachael Myers Lowe, Noelle Phillips
The Salty Nut Cafe
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