D.C. Fire on scene at Sumah’s responding to the fire.

Courtesy of DC Fire

Shortly before 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, D.C. Fire and EMS responded to a call about a large fire at Sumah’s West African Restaurant and Carryout on Seventh Street NW. The fire significantly damaged the roof and the second floor of the building, which Sumah’s mainly uses for storage.

“The building suffered very significant damage. The second floor was pretty much gutted front to back and the roof also had very significant damage,” says Vito Maggiolo, a public information officer at D.C. Fire.

Wednesday’s heavy winds likely contributed to the fire’s growth, Maggiolo says. Firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby buildings, and no injuries were reported. D.C. Fire had the blaze under control about twenty minutes after they arrived on scene, Maggiolo says.

Amara Sumah, who owns the business with his wife Isata, tells DCist there was only one customer in the store Wednesday evening when employees started smelling smoke. They checked to make sure all the burners were off in the kitchen, Sumah says, and everything looked fine. About 10 minutes later, they started seeing smoke filter in to the restaurant through the back door, and they ran outside.

Sumah says they saw the fire start on the roof, and the heavy winds helped it spread to the second floor. Propane tanks on the roof, he says, placed on the roof by contractors doing construction work, started the fire. Maggiolo, however, says the fire department has not yet confirmed the source of the fire or where exactly it started.

The first floor also suffered some collateral damage from the firefighters’ water hoses, according to both Sumah and Maggiolo, as well as some smoke damage.

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Sumah says his insurance company has to inspect the space before he can estimate when the restaurant might reopen.

“We have been here for over 20 years, me and my wife, and we are upset,” he says. “We will definitely come back. We want to continue making our customers happy.”

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