Clarksville Roosters restaurant goes up in flames

Libby Cunningham, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·2 min read

Feb. 27—CLARKSVILLE — Clarksville's Roosters restaurant, 1601 Greentree Boulevard, is gone after a fire broke out early Monday morning.

According to the Town of Clarksville, firefighters got to the scene just before 5 a.m. after receiving a fire alarm. When they arrived the building was filled with smoke.

Firefighters continued to fight the blaze into the day on Monday and smoke could be seen coming from the building hours after the initial fire alarm, even in the pouring rain.

"When I heard about it, I rode all the way from (New Albany) and rode all the way up here just to see it," said Southern Indiana resident John Fogel. "I couldn't believe it, it blew my mind, I was like 'wow.' My heart goes out to (the workers.) It was devastating."

Fogel said he previously worked at the location when it was a Bonanza Steakhouse.

"It used to be Bonanza, and then later on (something else), then I brought my kids here a long time ago," he said. "Over there used to be River Falls Mall, we used to take the kids there all the time. We used to stop and eat at this Bonanza when I worked there."

Clarksville Fire Chief Brandon Skaggs said there was a great deal of smoke and heat in the building when firefighters entered and started attacking the blaze. Between that, and the amount of furniture in the building, firefighters had to switch to defensive measures.

"The building has one common attic space, which allowed the fire to travel to the whole building," said Skaggs. "The building has already suffered two collapses because of that, so we decided to go to defensive mode to protect our firefighters."

Throughout the morning people drove past the structure, with some stopping to take pictures.

"I hate this for our community because this is an important business and a popular community gathering space for local residents," Skaggs said. "Especially with March Madness coming up, this will be a major loss for the business and for our community."

No one was hurt in the fire and officials are still working to determine its cause.

News and Tribune archives show the restaurant opened in the space in 2011 in the former Damon's building. Clarksville is home to Roosters' only Indiana location.

The company's website shows there are other locations in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia.