AUSTIN, Texas — A beloved bakery near the University of Texas at Austin campus is a total loss after a fire ripped through the business Monday night into Tuesday morning.
The fire was reported just before 11 p.m. Monday at the Texas French Bread bakery on Rio Grande Street, just down the road from the West Campus neighborhood and North Lamar Boulevard. When firefighters arrived, they say flames were coming from the roof of the bakery.
Firefighters fought the fire from the inside for about an hour, but the building then became unsafe and they had to work to extinguish the fire from outside. The roof ended up collapsing.
No one was injured in the fire, but the building is an iconic one in Central Austin. Fire crews say it is a total loss. The fire caused about $1.1 million worth of damage to the structure, and $500,000 worth of damage to the things inside.
A GoFundMe was created for the owners shortly after the fire. The money will help staff, it said.
"Their beloved staff got out safely, but the building that has been home to the family-owned bakery for decades is destroyed, along with everything inside," the GoFundMe read.
Local residents are struggling to comprehend the damage. Many people have already been sharing on social media what the building and the bakery meant to them. Some people were even showing up Tuesday morning to see the damage for themselves.
Texas French Bread is celebrating 40 years of business this year. Before the building was a bakery, it was the famous Rome Inn, a music venue in the 1970s where artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Lou Ann Barton played.
The cause of the fire was deemed to be accidental and due to a mechanical failure.
PHOTOS: Fire at Texas French Bread Bakery
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