Del City's J.T.'s Barbeque Gutted By Fire, North Half Lost After 2:30 A.M. Blaze

A fire tore through J.T.'s Barbeque and Catering in Del City early Wednesday morning, destroying the north part of the building while crews managed to save the south side. The blaze broke out around 2:30 a.m. at the barbecue restaurant, a fixture on South Sunnylane Road that has been in business since 1985, according to Del City Fire Chief Zion Williams.

Fire crews arrived to find heavy flames coming from the center of the restaurant, Williams told KFOR.com. Despite the intensity of the blaze, no injuries were reported, and firefighters were able to contact at least one of the restaurant's owners. The station's report notes the north part of the building could not be saved, though crews managed to protect the south side from the same fate.

Smokers Out Back Ruled Out As Fire's Origin

Investigators quickly turned their attention to a likely suspect: the restaurant's hickory smokers, a staple of the locally owned barbecue joint's cooking operation. But fire crews determined the smokers did not start the fire, since they were located in the back of the building, away from where the flames were first spotted, per the same account. That leaves the exact cause still unresolved, with the fire's origin remaining under investigation.

Chief Williams said drone technology would be crucial to piecing together how the fire started and spread. Del City police provided a drone for the investigation, an increasingly common tool for regional public safety agencies performing aerial scene mapping and thermal-hotspot detection without sending crews into structurally compromised buildings, per federal fire administration guidance.

Neighboring Departments Answer the Call

Del City's fire department, led by Williams and staffed by 30 full-time career firefighters, did not fight the blaze alone. Midwest City Fire and Tinker Air Force Base Fire and Emergency Services both provided support, a reflection of the formal mutual aid alliance that Del City maintains with neighboring departments, according to Tinker Air Force Base. Those agreements are designed to keep surrounding communities covered when a major structural fire pulls apparatus and personnel away from their home stations.

Under Oklahoma law, local fire chiefs and the Oklahoma State Fire Marshal are required to open an investigation into the cause and origin of any property-destroying fire within two days, with chiefs then required to submit written reports to the state fire marshal within a week, per Justia Law. State fire marshal agents are sworn peace officers available around the clock to assist local investigators with origin determination and evidence preservation, according to the Oklahoma Office of the State Fire Marshal.

A Mid-Del Institution Since 1985

J.T.'s Barbeque and Catering has built its reputation over four decades on hickory-smoked brisket, ribs, pulled pork, and smoked bologna, and it has become a prominent event caterer across Oklahoma County, according to TravelOK.com. The restaurant sits at 505 South Sunnylane Road, along a main commercial corridor in Del City, a city of just under 22,000 residents wedged between Oklahoma City, Midwest City, and Tinker Air Force Base.

This is not the first time this year that Del City fire crews have worked alongside the state fire marshal on a serious structural fire. In April, an early morning residential fire and reported explosion in the 2900 block of Southeast 15th Street sent one resident to the hospital and drew a similar joint investigation. Commercial kitchens like J.T.'s are also subject to routine fire marshal code inspections covering exit pathways, emergency lighting, and fire extinguishers under National Fire Protection Association standards.

For now, the cause of Wednesday's fire remains unknown, and investigators have not said when a determination might be made. Del City has seen its fire department stretched by other major blazes in recent months, including an overnight apartment fire at Sunnyview Apartments in February.