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Fire did nearly $1 million damage to a popular uptown Charlotte restaurant Saturday morning.
The blaze, which broke out sometime around 5:30 a.m., heavily damaged Ri-Ra's Irish Pub, a two-story restaurant in the 200 block of North Tryon Street.
No injuries were reported, and quick work by firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading or damaging any nearby businesses in the restaurant and entertainment area of uptown.
Charlotte fire Capt. Rob Brisley said a fire alarm tipped off emergency officials when it activated shortly after 5:30 a.m. Brisley said a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer spotted smoke coming from the rear of the restaurant, and when firefighters arrived moments later, smoke was pouring from the building.
Brisley said it took 31 firefighters about 30 minutes to subdue the blaze.
He said the cause of the fire was "carelessly discarded smoking materials in a trash can."
