RICH MATTHEWS
Associated Press Writer
DALLAS - Fire destroyed four businesses before dawn Tuesday in the restaurant-packed lower Greenville Avenue area of Dallas.
The blaze left one firefighter injured, said fire department spokesman Jason Evans. The fire was reported around 5:45 a.m. Tuesday.
Flames reached up to 50 feet when firefighters arrived, but they doused the fire within two hours, Evans said.
One firefighter was transported to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, he said.
Evans told The Associated Press that the fire seemed to have started in Terrilli's, a popular restaurant in the neighborhood east of downtown known for its eateries, funky retail stores and live-music clubs.
The Hurricane Grill, The Greenville Avenue Bar and Mick's were also destroyed in the fire. Evans said they all shared a crawl space with Terrilli's.
Gregg Merkow of Plano, a well-known tournament poker player who owns The Hurricane Grill and The Greenville Avenue Bar, said he raced down to the area to see smoke billowing from his bar.
He said the block where the brick-fronted restaurants shared a walkway was "fully engulfed" in flames.
"It's almost like a bad dream," said Merkow, adding everything he had worked to build, for nine years, was gone.
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