CLARKSVILLE, IN (February 27, 2023) – Firefighters from Clarksville, Jeffersonville, and New Albany responded to the scene of a large fire at Clarksville’s Roosters restaurant early Monday.  The restaurant is located at 1601 Greentree Boulevard next to Green Tree Mall.

Clarksville firefighters responded first after receiving a fire alarm just before 5:00am.  They arrived to find the building full of smoke.  Clarksville Fire Chief Brandon Skaggs says firefighters made entry into the building and began attacking the fire, but then had to change to defensive operations due to the amount smoke and heat in the building.  Chief Skaggs says the large amount of furniture and equipment in the building also made the situation difficult.

“The building has one common attic space which allowed the fire to travel to the whole building,” said Skaggs. “The building has already suffered two collapses because of that, so we decided to go to defensive mode to protect our firefighters.”

Skaggs says Jeffersonville firefighters are assisting with extinguishing the blaze while New Albany fire is on standby in case they are needed.  As for what started the fire, Chief Skaggs says it could take some time to figure that out.  Skaggs says due to the dangers in the building, investigators will have to use aerial ladders and possibly drones to help determine the cause of the fire.

Chief Skaggs says the only fortunate thing is that no one was injured in the fire.  Sadly, though, the building is a total loss.  He says he feels for the owners and employees of Roosters.

“I hate this for our community because this is an important business and a popular community gathering space for local residents,” said Skaggs.  “Especially with March Madness coming up, this will be a major loss for the business and for our community.”

The Town of Clarksville will continue to follow the investigation and release any new information as it becomes available.