El Rio Mexican Restaurant a Total Loss

This is what's left of a fire last night that consumed El Rio Mexican Restaurant Grill & Cantina on the street level and two apartments on the second floor in my hometown of Vicksburg.  The second floor was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived.  No one lived in the apartments above the restaurant and owner Lorenzo Martinez said he was renting the lower part.

Much of the whole block was closed off to fight the fire and a crowd gather along Washington and South Streets to watch it.

The buildings next to the restaurant sustained smoke and water damages.  The cause of the fire has not been determined and is owned by Walton L. Courtney of Rolling Fork, MS.

Martinez said Courtney had told him that it had been foreclosed on but no foreclosure records could be found at the courthouse this morning.

Martinez said he saw Courtney before the fire, but Courtney could not be found after the blaze was reported.