The Shack Barbeque Restaurant on San Jacinto Street in Cleveland has been a fixture in the community for years. Offering BBQ daily and Thanksgiving Smoked hams and a variety of pies burned Friday night. Over the years the fire department has been called many times for reported fires. Of those, there were a few very minor ones around the smoker. The remainder were drivers seeing the smoke from the smoker which usually starts up about 6:30 every evening. The original owner builds the custom smoker that tonight the fire actually got out of. When calls came in at 9:30 pm it was thought just to be smoke again but as units arrived on the scene they discovered just the opposite. Heavy flames were rolling through the building. Cleveland called Plum Grove, Tarkington and East Montgomery Fire Departments for additional help. By the end of the evening, the inside was totally gutted. According to Cleveland Fire Department, it is believed the fire got out of the smoker and spread. The restaurant usually caters to the lunch crowds and closes at 5:30 pm.
