By Devin Gavigan
Staff Reporter
On Sept. 7, McDonald’s restaurant in Bridgeport, Conn., caught fire. Firefighters responded to the emergency calls on 4219 Main Street a little after 1 a.m.
Junior Hope Lecours saw the fire in action. “I was driving down Main Street, to get McDonalds actually, and I just saw all these fire trucks and smoke coming from the McDonalds building,” she said. “It was so crazy.”
This 1 a.m. fire was found to have started in the kitchen and traveled through to the roof. The air ducts in the kitchen provided a passageway for the flames to rise up and spread to the roof. Fire trucks and ambulance lights and sirens lit up the street and rushed to the scene. McDonald’s, however, was not the only call received by the firefighters that night.
Fox61 News reported, “multiple calls came in for a separate fire at Wade’s Dairy, Inc. on 1288 Barnum Avenue.” This incident was called in within five minutes of the McDonald’s fire, causing the firefighters and first responders to be forced to tackle two emergencies at once.
At Wade’s Dairy, Inc., a car accident occurred, resulting in a vehicle colliding with the said building. “Authorities said they arrived on scene to find a car that crashed into a building. As a result of the crash, the car caught fire and damaged the building,” reported Bill Flood of Fox61 News.
One of the two individuals in the vehicle that collided with Wade’s Dairy, Inc. was arrested. Also, one police officer was injured while responding to the scene.
The Fire Marshall’s office has and will continue to investigate both fire incidents, according to police spokesman Terron Jones.
Connecticut Post reported stating, “The Health Department responded to both incidents because they involved businesses that sell food.” Prior to the fire, McDonald’s failed their health inspection.
Junior Alex Pearl said, “I think it’s a little weird how they failed inspection and then pretty soon after the kitchen went up in flames.”
The usually long waiting line at the Main Street drive-thru became barren. McDonald’s was closed due to the fire and was expected to be closed for two weeks to fix all the damages. It has since been reopened and Sacred Heart students had something to say about it.
“Maybe the fire was ultimately for the best,” argued Pearl. “It kind of forced the McDonald’s to renovate and repair the kitchen, which then helped them pass their health inspection.”
“I go to McDonald’s all the time, so I was upset when it closed down. I really like this particular McDonald’s apple pies, so I hated to see and hear that it was closed for a bit,” said Lecours. “I also feel like college students especially go to fast food chains, like McDonald’s, so when something like this happens, it can be annoying.”
According to Nutrition at New York University, the average college student will consume/eat fast food at a fast food restaurant one to three times each week.
When asking students how often they find themselves at a McDonald’s or other fast food restaurant, more students than not said they do in fact eat at fast food places about one to three times in the week.
