Rock Hill firefighters battle blaze at vacant restaurant near Riverwalk

Rock Hill firefighters battled a blaze for several hours Saturday evening after a vacant restaurant caught fire off Cherry Road.

The Rock Hill Fire Department received a call close to 6:30 p.m. about a vacant “commercial structure” fire on North Cherry Road near Riverwalk, said Mark Simmons, deputy chief.

Heavy smoked billowed from the former Ponderosa Restaurant amid heavy rain and lightening.

The department sent 16 firefighters with three engines and one ladder, Simmons said. No one was injured in the fire, he added.

The Herald reported in March 2016 the former Ponderosa and Branding Iron site was being considered for a $70 million mixed-used development that could bring hundreds of residents and jobs to Rock Hill. Riverside on the Catawba River development would include retail, residential and office space on both sides of U.S. 21.

Two sites are proposed for development, a 5-acre site on the east side of Cherry Road, site of the former Ponderosa restaurant, and 25 acres on the west side of Cherry Road, bisected by Riverside Drive.

This story was originally published July 1, 2017 at 8:12 PM with the headline "Rock Hill firefighters battle blaze at vacant restaurant near Riverwalk."