Sep. 16--You will have to get your frosty, your chili or your mandarin-chicken salad somewhere else for a while.

The Wendy's Old-Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant at 1603 U.S. 72 East in Athens is still undergoing demolition following a July 2 fire and reopening appears to be about three to six months away, a city official said.

"As far as I know, they are going to totally renovate and rebuild it on the inside," said City Engineer Brent Meadows. "I have not heard otherwise. They have quite a bit of work to do and they are still doing demolition and internal cleanup."

An official at Wendy's Bowling Green in Kentucky, which owns the local restaurant, could not be reached for comment.

After demolition is complete, Wendy's will have to submit a rebuilding plan to the city Building Department for approval, then rebuild and pass all inspections before reopening.

The July 2 fire that damaged the restaurant began in the fryer exhaust system about 1 p.m., as the building was two-thirds full of customers. By the time customers and crew had exited, blue flames had burned through the ventilation system, into the attic and between layers of roofing. The restaurant sustained roof damage as well as smoke and fire damage throughout. A firefighter was injured when a florescent light fixture fell from the ceiling and cut his forearm, requiring about 20 stitches.

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