Polk Township Fire Chief Billy Tippett says the fire that engulfed the landmark Monroe County restaurant is an example of why he always takes automatic alarms seriously.

"We always go to automatic alarms, every one of them," Tippett said.The company was dispatched at 4:30 Sunday morning to the restaurant on Route 209.When they arrived, "Smoke was pouring out of the eaves of the restaurant," Tippett said.Tippett immediately called it in as a fully involved structure fire.In addition to Polk, crews came from Kunkletown, West End Fire Company in Brodheadsville, Blue Ridge Hook and Ladder in Saylorsburg, Tunkhannock and Pocono Township in Monroe County. From Carbon County, crews included Aquashicola, Franklin Township, Palmerton, Towamensing, Penn Forest departments No. 1 and No. 2, and Albrightsville.West End Ambulance was on the scene, but no one was hurt.In all, about 80 firefighters were on scene.The Salvation Army canteen brought nourishment for firefighters.Multiple companies were put on standby in case an emergency happened in the home territories of the companies that came to help.All they could do was contain the raging fire."Unfortunately, we couldn't save that building," Tippett said.They could keep it from spreading to the tax business on the left and a residence in back of the restaurant. The people were home at the residence, and firefighters got them safely out of the building.The scene was declared under control at 8 a.m., and firefighters began clearing the scene at 11:30, six hours after they first arrived.Route 209 was closed from Burger Hollow to Gilbert roads for the duration of the fire.Because the restaurant was located in a rural area, supplying water to battle the fire was an issue."That's why we called so many tankers and two aerial divisions," Tippett said.The tankers worked from three filling sites to supply water to the two trucks. Tankers filled up at the hydrant at the Pleasant Valley school complex on Polk Township Road, the creek behind the Polk Township Fire Company on Route 209 and the pond on Millpond Road.Power lines were also an issue."Power lines were everywhere in that corridor," Tippett said, adding that it was tough to maneuver the aerial trucks into position without hitting the lines.This was one of the biggest fires in Polk's recent history, according to Tippett.In all, "13 companies from two counties pulled together to do a job," Tippett said."It was fantastic. Everyone walked away and no one was hurt."Tippett said he couldn't say where or how the fire started.A state police fire marshal was called to the scene Sunday as a matter of course and was expected to return today.The popular Italian and Greek restaurant, which served everything from breakfast to late-night snacks, has been for sale for about a year.The 11,000-square-foot wood frame structure boasted of having three bars, a dance floor and a 3,500-square-foot deck at the rear of the business."Nobody was in there, thank God," said Tom Thornton, who happened to be on the scene later that day, adding that it "went down fast."Thornton is the husband of the restaurant's manager, Dorothy Thornton.The news prompted posts on Facebook from "Oh no" to "What a shame." Crystal Whiteman Kneas said, "Great place, excellent food! Nice atmosphere. Sad."Joanne Williams said, "That was my all-time favorite restaurant and job in my history of restaurants and jobs."Sharon Stanleycontributed to this report.