Updated at 4:47 a.m. Thursday:
Fire broke out in the kitchen of a Jefferson City restaurant early Thursday morning.
According to fire department reports, the fire was called in around 12:44 a.m. after smoke was spotted coming from Oscar's Classic Diner, 2118 Schotthill Woods Road.
The fire started in the kitchen area and that part of the restaurant suffered extensive damage. The rest of the building had smoke damage. The total damage estimate was around $100,000.
The building was unoccupied when fire broke out. No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire, for now, is being listed as undetermined; however fire officials said their investigation was continuing. They added that the business will remain closed for an undetermined amount of time until the building, particularly the kitchen area, can be cleaned up and repaired.
Earlier coverage posted at 2:17 a.m. Thursday (updating the first version from 1:02 a.m.):
Firefighters extinguished a blaze inside a Jefferson City restaurant early Thursday morning.
They responded around 12:44 a.m. to a report that smoke could be seen coming from Oscar's Classic Diner, 2118 Schotthill Woods Road, in the eastern part of the city.
When police arrived to investigate, they discovered the restaurant's parking lot was empty of vehicles, leading them to believe no one was in the building at the time. No injuries were reported.
The investigation into the cause of the blaze, which started in the kitchen area, is continuing.
While the fire was being fought, police blocked off the dead-end street in front of the business, which caused some delay in newspaper delivery from the adjacent News Tribune printing plant because vehicles could not enter or leave the plant for a time.