KENTON, Ohio — A restaurant in Hardin County was heavily damaged after a fire early Wednesday morning.
The fire happened at 101 Smokehouse on South Main Street in Kenton. The city posted on social media around 5:15 a.m., asking residents to avoid the downtown area as fire crews battled the flames.
A firefighter with the Kenton Fire Department said eight agencies helped put out the fire. He added that the fire was called out as a three-alarm fire.
The firefighter said crews attempted to put out the fire from the inside but went defensive from the outside. Ladder trucks were used to put water from above.
![](https://media.tegna-media.com/assets/WBNS/images/d9ab1b38-9845-4c74-b912-20a71bbf8cf1/20240731T123144/d9ab1b38-9845-4c74-b912-20a71bbf8cf1_16x9.jpg)
![](https://media.tegna-media.com/assets/WBNS/images/d9ab1b38-9845-4c74-b912-20a71bbf8cf1/20240731T123144/d9ab1b38-9845-4c74-b912-20a71bbf8cf1_1140x641.jpg)
![](https://media.tegna-media.com/assets/WBNS/images/a903d67e-dd60-43b8-bd17-2d6b674973b4/20240731T122825/a903d67e-dd60-43b8-bd17-2d6b674973b4_16x9.jpg)
![](https://media.tegna-media.com/assets/WBNS/images/a903d67e-dd60-43b8-bd17-2d6b674973b4/20240731T122825/a903d67e-dd60-43b8-bd17-2d6b674973b4_1140x641.jpg)
The fire was later contained, but the fire department said the building is considered a total loss.
A 101 Smokehouse employee posted on Facebook that the restaurant will be closed indefinitely as they work to clean up the damage.
"Our team is sad to announce that due to the extensive fire damage we endured last night we will be closed indefinitely as cleanup will take some time. We would like to thank the community for all their kind thoughts, prayers and well wishes."
The State Fire Marshal has been called to help investigate and determine the cause of the fire.
📺 10TV+ is available for free on Roku & Amazon Fire TV: Stay up to date on what is happening in your community with a 24/7 live stream and on demand content from 10TV — available on Roku and Amazon Fire TV.