As Rusty Witthuhn watched smoke come out from, a now frail Author's Kitchen + Bar, he couldn't help but reminisce about his childhood.
"My parents brought me here to buy shoes when I was a kid," said Witthuhn. "Since then it's been a number of different restaurants."
"We had significant fire around us and conditions were worsening, we pulled crews out and went to a defensive attack," said Appleton Battalion Fire Chief Ethan Kroll.
Author's Kitchen + Bar was a total loss after the fire.
Crews were called to the restaurant at 201 N. Appleton St., around 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Kroll said crews had to work from outside the building to put the fire out because it was deemed too dangerous inside.