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Stray Dog, Popular New Buffalo Restaurant, Heavily Damaged In Fire

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A popular restaurant and bar in New Buffalo, Mich., was badly damaged after a fire erupted while patrons were dining inside.

Nobody was injured, but the Stray Dog Bar & Grill, a popular spot for Chicago area vacationers, will be closed for some time while the owners rebuild.

Firefighters were on the scene for hours battling the blaze, and the building's roof collapsed and the structure was heavily damaged.

"The owners of The Stray Dog Bar and Grill would like to thank their staff for the great job they did ensuring the safety of both customers and employees," the restaurant said on its Facebook page. "We plan to open it again as quickly as possible."

Firefighters were called to the scene around 9 p.m. Tuesday. Restaurant staff did manage to evacuate everybody quickly.

Firefighters tell WSBT-TV the fire may have started in the front of building, which is near the restaurant's office.

Because of how quickly the fire spread through the building, New Buffalo firefighters had to call for backup.

"This is a big fire with limited staff," said New Buffalo Assistant Fire Chief Jack Kennedy to WSBT. "Fortunately, most of our people showed up. We got the good equipment. We needed a lot of manpower and needed it quick, and that's what we got. We had New Buffalo city, New Buffalo Township, Chikamming Township firefighters, pretty much three departments."

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