Last Updated: 7 p.m.
The Dunkin Donuts on Palm Coast Parkway near Winn Dixie was engulfed in flames this afternoon after a fire broke out around 4 p.m. The business was operating when the fire started.
The restaurant is “fully involved” in flames, according to authorities at the scene, as firefighters from at least two agencies have been battling the flames.
Palm Coast Fire Chief Mike Beadle is at the scene and in command of the firefighting efforts. There is no impact on traffic along Palm Coast Parkway or Cypress Edge. But smoke is heavy and stinging as it billows in northwesterly directions, over the Parkway.
Beadle said the fire started just before 4 p.m. at the 1310 Palm Coast Parkway location even as patrons and employees were in the building. Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies were first on scene and evacuated the restaurant as the fire broke out inside the roof.
“Within minutes it appeared that the fire vented through the roof within the structure,” Beadle said. When that happens, oxygen is let in and feeds the fire, enabling it to spread much more rapidly. It did. “It was a hot fire, it went pretty quick,” Beadle said.
He added: “I don’t know of anything suspicious.” Given that the business was operating at the time, Beadle said, citing his experience, that the likeliest cause of the fire was an accident. The state fire marshal has been summoned to the scene.
In fact, the roof was under repairs and indications later in the afternoon were that the fire had started on the roof. The contractor’s blue tarps were still visibly draped over the walls of the restaurant even as the fire burned. By close to 6 pm, the front of the restaurant had been gutted. But the fire was stilling burning vigorously at the south end of the restaurant.
Contractor Dal Mar Roofing Industries of 2801 S. Nova Road in South Daytona had pulled the roofing permit for the $33,800 job on May 24, according to city records. The job was a re-roofing. No subcontractors were listed.
Audio: Palm Coast Fire Chief Mike Beadle Sums Up the Fire[media id=408 width=270 height=225]
Beadle said only Palm Coast firefighters were battling the fire, with Flagler County rescues standing by, along with Flagler County and Flagler Beach firefighters and volunteers. He was not requesting air support from Flagler County Fire Flight, which was circling overhead periodically around 5 p.m., as Palm Coast’s Ladder 25 was dumping cascades of water on the structure. Just after 5 p.m., however, firefighters requested an additional engine to help fight the fire.
The engine arrived at the scene at 5:12 p.m.
Two hours into fighting the fire, several firefighters were getting aid from rescue personnel to ward off exhaustion.
There have been no reported injuries, either among patrons, restaurant staff or firefighters.
Glen Garman, the franchise co-owner and a Palm Coast resident, was standing off the northwest end of the property late this afternoon, making and taking phone calls and watching the firefighters contain the flames as the fire consumed the building. “This is the place where I spend most of my time,” Garman said. “I run this one.”
He’s been involved in the business five years. His partner has owned it for 10. The restaurant is one of five they own, along with the one on State Road 100, one in Daytona Beach, one in Deltona and one in DeBary.
The cause? “We have no idea, we’re going to wait for the fire department to do their investigation and see what they find out, but we have no idea at this point in time what happened,” he said.
There are 35 employees at the location, about half of them employed full time. They all got out safely, “so that’s the important thing for us,” Garman said. It’s too early to say what would happen to the employees, he said, but he’s already been in contact with another Dunkin Donut franchise owner in the area. “She’s going to get busier because of this, the one on State 100 is going to get busier,” he said. “It’s too early to give you any details, but we’ll do everything we can to find them a place to tide them over until we can get this place rebuilt and reopened again.”
That, he said. is a certainty. “As of today our plans are–we have insurance, we love being a part of the community,” Garman said. “Our plans as it is now, we’re going to do everything we can to get this thing rebuilt and up and running as soon as possible.”
He then reflected: “It’s sad, it’s part of my life, it’s a business. But I’m relieved that there were no injuries, that my people are OK. I can replace property. It’s a loss, but it’s not something that–if somebody were injured or worse, died in this, I’d be very emotional right now. But I can live with the loss of property because that, we can always rebuild.”
To the community, he said, his humor unscathed by the nearby flames, “Sorry you’re going to find another place to find your coffee for a couple of months, but you have my promise that we’re going to rebuild and be open for you as soon as possible. Just come back when we rebuild.”
YankeeExPat says
My wife and I were about to go to the Dunkin Donuts drive through when looked up and saw a roofer frantically trying to put out the fire on the roof with a Fire extinguisher. You could see it spreading yard by yard across the entire roof.
Obama 2016 says
You might want to file a report with the police if you did see this. Could help the owners if the roofer is at fault.
Jim Kroupa says
dam maybe he needed more training for doing a flat roof, i was just there to b4 this happen
Nancy N. says
Awhile back when I drove by I saw the fire department tower truck spraying the roof, appearing to be putting out a fire in the roof area of that building. Worth looking into.
mickyryan says
sad day indeed, glad everyone is ok thus far.
Linda says
Very nice job of on-the-scene coverage. Thorough and informative. Thank you.
Jacqui says
How sad for the owners of this place and the employees! I guess the other Dunkin is going to be busier now, and traffic more on Old Kings Road. :/ With the roofer up there, I wonder if something happened because of the roofing? I think we should be grateful no one was hurt, but let us pray for those out of work now, and the owners faced with rebuilding.
Outsider says
Thank you FlaglerLive for being on the scene. And to think we used to have to wait until the following Saturday or Wednesday to get news like this!
Debbieg3162 says
Nooo. First I hope everyone is OK. Second, Bask in Robbins is gone. I repeat nooo
Justme says
I wonder if a cigarette was dropped in the roof somehow, and the fire just slowly built up. Either way, I’m also glad everyone appears to be ok.
Anonymous says
Just so everyone is aware. Old kings is 10 times better than that dunkin donuts. Its a sad loss for the owner. But. i never go there on account of loving the other ones coffe
Diana says
I think it really is too soon to speculate problems with the roof. It could be a grease fire on the roof if the hood vent filters were not clean or working properly. The Fire Marshall will do an investigation and we will know after that.
Damien says
As I made my way to I-95 on Palm Coast parkway East after work around 5:30 and saw all the smoke, then got stopped at the cypress point light for 3 minutes right smack dab in front of this structure fire, for 3 minutes at a red light I almost asphyxiated… None of the police or other emegrgency workers cordoning off the area were wearing respirators, engulfed in black toxic smoke, I wish I had mine in the car, My 4 year old daughter and I were choking! all that acrid chemical smoke was just pouring over the Parkway heading North… They should have diverted traffic, I saw the Flagler chopper based at the airport circling but without their water bucket they were showing off at last years wiings over flagler event, a couple of those buckets would have helped theres a retention pond next door! Looked to me like two guys with fires hoses losing the battle against that blaze!! I still have a headache from those fumes 2 hours later!!! BTW I checked News Journal for the scoop when I got home, nothing but vagueness, I go to Flagler Live and read 10 times the info on a breaking story, Good Job! My kid and I I miss their signature bannana split already.
Anonymous says
GLAD ALL ARE SAFE, Now can we get a Krispy Kreme
Dunkin lover says
Tragic…I was just about to go there tommorow too..
chris mccurdy says
Good job PCFD. Hey Mr. Beatle, Hope all is well. Great job!
John Smith says
To much talk on this.. As a professional contractor there are several things to note before discrediting the roofer..
1) roofs are almost entirely fire retardant.. Something as plain as cig isn’t going to cause a fire. Tar used in flat roofing has a very very high flash point.. As does the material layer undernith to accept the flat tar roof.. Even the tarps would melt before they would burn..
2) 3/4 of all restaurants rarely clean the vents Obote the Fryers.. This is and always has been one of the most common causes for restaurant fires.. It’s essentially grease trapped in the ceiling waiting for enou heat to cumbust.. This is why shows like restaurant impossible always hammer down in cleaning these vents.,
3) looking at the pictures it appears the hottest part of the fire was at the back of the restaurant.. (Where the kitchen is) the side pictures show extreme heat in the soffits and roof itself even where there is no flames present..
Don’t be so quick to discredit those who do things like reroof for a living. A situation like his with a few misplaced inaccurate comments getting spread can ruin bit onky a company but the lives of all its employees.. Wait for the inspectors and fire marshal to release the report.. I’m betting it’s completely unrelated to the reroof and cause of either improper or outdated construction or the result of kitchen vents not getting cleaned weekly as they should.
. It’s always fun to speculate but try to remember in a small community such as ours there are numerous families that can undergo unjustified hardships from such hearsay.. In fact I find it distasteful of the news tomevennreport the name of the contractor so soon as this fire will make front pages yet.. The final report won’t.. So all others will see is the Intial company name and fire. That alone will cost them business that is currently unjustified.
YankeeExPat says
In response to Obama 2016
“You might want to file a report with the police if you did see this. Could help the owners if the roofer is at fault.”
I took your advice and contacted FCSO and reported to them I had witnessed the roofer attempting to put out the fire with an Extinguisher before the Fire dept. arrived.
John Dough says
I couldn’t imagine all the little high school girls crying about this
Gobsmacked says
You’re assuming they “cook” in the kitchen. All they do is re-heat frozen products in microwaves….no grease in that kitchen. Donuts are not made there..they’re trucked in.
Literate says
So wait, because the roofer was trying to put out the fire before it spread it means its his fault? I mean it could be yea but how do you make that assumption based on that? What…
LaLaLa says
Dear Flaglerlive.com,
You should consider hiring an editor. The amount of mistakes in this article was unacceptable.
Sincerely,
LaLaLa
Jon Hardison says
My understanding is that Dunkin does use fryers. If they do, this is a big, BIG issue, as stated in John Smith’s comment. Traps should be cleaned at least weekly and venting above fryers needs to be done either every 2 or 3 months depending on the setup, but it MUST be done or there WILL be a fire at some point. A fire that will be very difficult to put out.
To John Smith: I don’t think there was an issue with brining up the roofers. And with YankeeExPat’s comment, I’d think it would be good for business. As you said, there’s pretty much no way the roofing job was involved in the fire and even if the state of the roof contributed to venting that’s just bad timing.
But the fact that one of their employees was standing up there risking his life to make a bad situation better?
That’s pretty darn cool and says a lot about that person.
Anonymous says
All is not entirely lost. They could reopen as a fried dough stand.
Donna says
I am super sad, That was Almost daily stop, for my coffee. But so very happy No one was hurt. Thank you to the firefighters and Owner, who promised to have it rebuilt!
Chloe (DUNKIN EMPLOYEE) says
I was the last of three people to escape as it caved in. I actually wasn’t supposed to work today but I got called in because someone called out and I needed extra hours. For the record if anything gives a crap about it now, I am out of a job, and the coworkers I have are as well. WE MAKE DONUTS FRESH IN STORE EVERY SINGKE DAY by the way! And, it is very upsetting that the roofers had no fucking clue what they were going. My boss Glen is an amazing man and I am so grateful no one was hurt as we evacuated people out safely.
Just for the record is anyone still cares.
Stickman says
So even if the roofer used a fire extinguisher it doesn’t mean he started the fire
Tired of it says
John Smith,
You must be an Arson Investigator with all of your comments. Many times a re roofing job will result in the roof catching on fire. The roofers are using torches to melt the tar on the roof and it does have a high flash point.
New Yorker says says
What a way to burn Carb’s
David B says
Sounds like the roof tar that was being put down by the roofing company ignited. It was pretty hot yesterday, and the liquid tar probably got hot and exploded.
SAY NO TO TRUMP says
The fire initially came through the roof on the west side of building, over the dining area. It’s amazing how much water was pumped onto that fire but didn’t even seem to put a dent in it. The wind kept it raging. I was across the street and was choking on the smoke. I can’t imagine what those firefighters were going through. Job well done guys, thanks for your service to the community!
DaveT says
The tar used on roofing is known as a air-blown or oxidized asphalt. Roofing asphalt is available in four types or grades. They are classified as I to IV, with III and IV being the most commonly used. Depending on the specific type (I to IV) and manufacturer, roofing asphalt has a boiling point of 650°F to 1,000°F, a flash point of ≥450°F, an autoignition temperature of ≥600°F, a flammable vapor range of 0.9% to 7%, and a softening point of 135°F to 225°F. Recommended application, or as it is known in the industry, equiviscous temperatures (EVT), for mopping grade roofing asphalt also varies by type and ranges from 330°F to 444°F
L.D.Ablo says
Heaven help us…a shortage of crime fighting fuel!
tinal says
Thank God for all those firemen who were there for hour in this heat. That’s what they are trained to do but with all that gear on, kudos to all of you & no one was hurt. Don’t be so quick to judge how it happened just thank the fire departments & sheriff’s that no one was hurt.
godsgirl4ever says
first let me say that I am thankful no one was hurt… it touched me how Mr. Garman was there to respond & STARTED LOOKING OUT FOR HIS EMPLOYEES! I visit that D/D on my way to work @ 4:30 in the morning & was grateful to the employees who got there so I can enjoy my coffee on the way to work. always pleasant service..which reflects upon the owners & managers of a establishment.
I look forward to Mr. Garman & His business partner re-opening the store & will be back as a loyal patron.
there are outlets if employees need assistance..food banks…2nd & 4th thursday of every month Calvary Baptist on Pine Lakes Pkey, Grace food bank & Parkview Baptist church, 2nd saturday of each month..these 2 churches can be contacted weekly & food will be supplied to those in need Blessings to all…Godsgirl
420 thought says
What if the roofer threw a cig in the vent?
FlaglerLive says
Dear LaLaLa,
Yu shuld konsider writin a story 30 foot downwinde from a fyer, wiz smok keping ur eyes bathed in waterwurks or bilowing like summersolts over ur kibord whil getting spreyed from firemon’s hoses in betwiin paragrafs lik from a kat in heat und zen chasing after mursels of inphormashion lik a banchee on spid so u kan get ze info out to dimanding riders, or reaaders, or howffer u spell that word fur them ungretful littel shiatz. Iff zen u still wory about tipoz zen mebe izz better idea u stay in ur nise comffy arrmchair u rote ur mari antoiynettish komment frum. Sin surly,
Ze Edytor
dave says
Maybe we will get lucky and they will open a farmers market there. Fresh produce ,milk, eggs, and such from local farmers. Would be much better than a sugar shack cancer house.
Firefighter says
That $1 mil tower would have probably been better at stopping this one. Fire still going for two hours?
YankeeExPat says
To the David Caruso Wannabes!
In response to any of the commenter’s that have misconstrued that I am making accusations about the roofer of doing anything but running with a fire extinguisher and attempting to quell the fully involved fire, you are wrong. I am only stating what I witnessed at that very moment in time from the Dunkin Donuts parking lot prior to the arrival of the Police or the Fire responders.
Just because folks watch CSI Miami reruns doesn’t make them a Crime Investigator. The Fire Marshall will make his report and the Insurance Company will send an Investigator that will interview those at the scene.
r&r says
LaLaLa go to LaLaLa land. This was an excellent story and well covered.
Morgan says
Our owners still own the property, we’re rebuilding :)
Just saying says
So deputy death goes on a diet and now the donut shops are burning down, coincidence?