Fire that temporarily closed Provo Center Street 'suspicious,' officials say


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PROVO — Provo Center Street was closed for several hours Tuesday morning due to a fire in the area that officials are calling suspicious, according to fire officials.

The fire was reported about 6:30 a.m. at Oregano Italian Kitchen at 223 W. Center St., according to Provo Fire Department Capt. Dean York. Officials initially said it looked like a transformer malfunctioned at the back of the building and started the fire, but the Utah State Fire Marshal's office later reported the cause of the fire appears "suspicious."

The building was vacant because the restaurant had moved to a new location, York said. The fire marshal's office said the fire caused about $25,000 in damage to the vacant building, as well as causing some smoke damage to the adjoining businesses.

"Because of the age of a lot of the businesses here on Center Street, there is always a concern of fire spreading because everything is so close together," York said.

About 28 firefighters from Orem and Provo fire departments responded to the area and the fire was extinguished about 7:30 a.m.

Part of Center Street and some of the surrounding streets were closed for almost two hours, but the road reopened about 8:40 a.m., Provo police said in a tweet.

No injuries were reported in the fire.

Contributing: Derek Petersen

Photo credit: Provo Fire Department
Photo credit: Provo Fire Department

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