Customers hoping Gwinnett County BBQ restaurant will re-open after lightning strike causes fire

Customers of a popular Gwinnett County barbeque place are hoping it’ll reopen soon after a lightning strike damaged the roof.

On Wednesday, they showed up all day to offer their support to the owner and employees here after what happened.

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Firefighters say it was a lightning strike that caused the damage that could keep the business closed for months.

“It means a lot I like Sonny’s,” said Shirley Swink, a customer.

Swink said she had to see the damage for herself at Sonny’s BBQ in Lawrenceville.

“I hope they re-open,” she said.

It’s one of her favorite restaurants, but now it’s closed because of the damage.

“We were just here Monday so we enjoyed it,” she said.

Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson reported how employees helped get the customers to safety

It was Tuesday night, just after 8:00 when firefighters say lightning hit the building on Duluth Highway.

“I heard a pop and the lines that go from the pole into the building were red – solid red,” said Samuel Shelton, an employee.

Employees helped usher customers outside to safety while firefighters tackled the fire which proved to be challenging.

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“We had to put up a couple of ariels because of the intense heat and also because we had concerns about the power lines really close to the building,” said Capt. Ryan McGiboney with Gwinnett County Fire Department.

By 8:30, the fire was out.

Soon after, investigators determined that lightning sparked it.

Most of the damage happened in the drive-thru area at the back of the restaurant. Some are optimistic they won’t be closed for long.

Despite the customers being inside at the time of the fire, and the restaurant being full of employees, firefighters say no one was injured.

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