A man walking in downtown Courtenay has earned credit for quickly calling emergency crews after he noticed smoke and flames coming out of a sushi restaurant late Sunday evening.
Jordan Young was walking past the Sushi Jo Japanese Restaurant business on his way home Sunday evening when he saw smoke coming from the top of the building.
"I figured that wasn't a normal thing so I ran up to the building as fast as I could and was hoping nobody was in there," he said. "Nobody was, I saw the flames and called 911 as fast as I could."
Young says he was impressed that firefighters arrived on the scene within just a few short minutes. When they arrived they immediately smashed out the building's front door in order to gain access to the closed business.
"Upon arrival crews noticed a glow in the front portion of the restaurant and used forcible entry and were able to locate the fire in the kitchen area," said Courtenay Deputy Fire Chief Kurt MacDonald.
MacDonald said there was extensive smoke and heat damage throughout the restaurant, but the bulk of the damage was in the kitchen area.
Fire investigators said they would focus their efforsts on the kitchen Monday when trying to determine the cause of the fire.
