PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland firefighters responded to a fire at Reo’s Ribs in Northeast Portland overnight.
Video shows smoke pouring out of the roof of the restaurant on NE Sandy Boulevard early Monday morning. Officials say crews arrived to smoke showing from the back of the building and then discovered flames both on the exterior and interior. The blaze was quickly extinguished.
The Hollywood District restaurant was destroyed in another fire back in 2017 and reopened after rebuilding. That fire was determined to be accidental — but the owner, Reo Varnado, said he did not believe that.
There is no word on what started Monday morning’s fire. No injuries have been reported at this time. KOIN 6 News has reached out to fire officials for more information.
A family member at Reo’s Ribs told KOIN 6 News on Saturday that when he came into work he was able see the protest-related damage in the neighborhood. Ricky Varnado, who works at his brother’s business, said that while Reo’s wasn’t damaged on Friday, the building next door was and called it disappointing.
“I just hope whoever is doing this, they would catch the people who’s doing it and be prosecuted for what they’ve done,” Ricky Varnado said. “I mean, because this is really a sad time of the year they are doing this, with the coronavirus epidemic that’s going on, people are having a hard time trying to make it in life and this makes it even worse.”
Reo Varnado is also the uncle of Snoop Dogg, and was on his nephew’s cooking show with Martha Stewart filming a segment at the time of the 2017 fire.
This is a developing story.