The Piedmont McDonald’s Restaurant will remain closed for an extended period of time after suffering extensive damage to the inside of the building following a grease fire on Thursday.

Piedmont Fire Chief Mike Ledbetter told WEIS Radio News the fire started on the grill and quickly spread to the attic, firefighters spent well over four hours on the scene. Chief Ledbetter says he wishes to thank the Jacksonville Fire Department for their assistance and says that everyone did a excellent job in quickly bringing the blaze under control.

We also spoke to Phillip Winkles with Piedmont Rescue Service who informed us that they did have medics standing by as a precautionary and that fortunately no injuries were reported.

Piedmont Mayor Bill Baker says that he spoke with the Manager of McDonald’s, Jackie Dryden says that the building is being inspected and assessed. It has not been determined yet if the building will be repaired or a new one built, but Dryden said that McDonald’s will be back in Piedmont bigger and better.

Workers at the facility have been temporarily reassigned to Jacksonville and Heflin.