Fire destroys Mexico Lindo restaurant

Hoover firefighters spent the night of July 4 battling a structural fire at the former Mexico Lindo restaurant, located on U.S. 31.

Hoover Fire Battalion Chief David Hambright said firefighters received a call at about 8 p.m. that the vacant building was burning. They arrived to see "a lot of fire, a lot of smoke from the structure," and Hambright said they had to have crews working on the fire from both the U.S. 31 and the Lorna Road sides of the building.

Parts of the building, including the roof, had collapsed due to the fire, forcing the HFD crews to work solely from the outside of the building. Hambright said hidden spaces in the building and heavy timbers also made the fire difficult to extinguish.

Fire crews left the scene around 1 a.m., he said. The fire marshal was on the scene last night and returned this morning to inspect the building. Hambright said the source of the fire is unknown, but it appeared to have started in the attic above the kitchen and seemed accidental.

No one was inside the building or injured during the fire, but Hambright said the building "pretty much is gone" inside.