Las Vegas firefighters responded to the Applebee’s restaurant in the Best of the West Shopping Center at 2070 N. Rainbow Blvd. at 7 p.m. Thursday evening. Initial reports indicated that a large electric panel box on the outside rear of the one-story building was on fire. The fire worked its way up and inside the rear wall of the building and into the attic area where it was met by an automatic fire sprinkler and quickly doused. Meanwhile firefighters doused the flames on the outside rear wall of the building;.

            Las Vegas fire investigators determined the fire started outside behind the restaurant in an area where mops and other cleaning supplies and equipment are kept. It is also the area where employees smoke when they are  on break. 

            When the fire was discovered, automatic alarms sounded which notified guests and employees to evacuate the building. Everyone got outside without incident or injury.

            Damage was confined to the outside rear wall, a small area inside the rear wall and a small area in the attic. Damage was estimated at $25,000.

            The incident remains under investigation.

E43,42,6, T6, R43, B4,10, PIO1, 6i1, 6i10, 6i11     Incident: 2160035