A historic and well known Italian restaurant along with other businesses are a total loss after an early morning fire occurred in downtown Opelika.

Opelika police units and fire crews responded to a 911 call from a citizen around 1:05 A.M. on July 21st, 2022. The caller stated heavy smoke was in the area of South Railroad Avenue.

“Upon arrival, Opelika firefighters determined the source of the smoke was a structure fire inside Maffia’s Italian Restaurant, located at 811 S. Railroad Avenue,” the press release said.

Auburn Fire Department and Lee County Emergency Management Agency responded to assist. Opelika Power Services cut the power to multiple buildings to make it safe for the OFD to fight the fire.

At approximately 7:30 a.m., crews began the process of overhauling the site to search for hidden hot spots. Electrical service was restored to all but three damaged buildings at 7:45am this morning.

At this time, crews remain on scene and it is unclear the extent of damage to the surrounding buildings. Opelika Police confirmed that once the site is clear, Opelika Fire Department will conduct its investigation to try and determine the cause of the fire.

Southern Crossing, which is right of Maffia’s, posted on social media: “This. This is Downtown Opelika to me. THANK YOU to these brave men and women who selflessly serve to protect our community. Thank you to all of you who have reached out. Please pray for our Historic Downtown community. Southern Crossing has suffered a total loss as far as contents are concerned. We will be closed for the forseeable future. We can not thank our customers, employees, reps and community for the support and care you have shown our family. While we apologize that we will not be able to serve you, we encourage all of our customers to support other small businesses in our area.”

The Galley on Railroad, which is left of Maffia’s, posted: “Thank you for all of you have reached out! We are so grateful that no one was hurt. We will post an update soon. It’s a tough day in downtown Opelika.” Click here to watch video of the scene by Opelika Police Department. 

If you have any information on this incident, please contact Opelika Dispatch at (334) 705-5260.