A dumpster fire damaged the Nitty Gritty restaurant and closed an area of Downtown early Sunday, Madison police and fire authorities said.
Officers working the Downtown Safety Initiative and a Downtown beat officer heard a person yelling in the distance at 1:08 a.m. Sunday, headed toward the yelling and found a dumpster engulfed in flames behind the Nitty Gritty, 223 N. Frances St., police spokesperson Kimberly Alan said in a statement. Police immediately began evacuating the 70-plus customers and staff from the Nitty Gritty and the people from an apartment building next to the alley where the dumpster was burning, Alan said.
No injuries were reported.
The fire spread to the back of the Nitty Gritty and a vehicle as Madison Fire Department crews arrived at 1:10 a.m., Alan said.