Fire rages through Denny's restaurant in Temple City; structure partially collapses

TEMPLE CITY, Calif. (KABC) -- A raging fire tore through a Denny's in Temple City early Thursday morning before being extinguished by firefighters. No injuries were reported.

The blaze broke out shortly before 3 a.m. in the 5600 block of Rosemead Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. All of the restaurant's customers and employees were able to evacuate the building unharmed.

Responding firefighters were met with giant flames, and the structure's facade collapsed amid the inferno.

"You usually hear some cracking, and then they backed out of the way (and) let it come down," the fire department's Assistant Chief David Theis said. "The facade is where the roof meets the wall, basically. There's a decorative, hollow area that usually has a lot of fire in it."

The fire was knocked down within about 40 minutes, said dispatch supervisor Michael Pittman.

A bank, located in the same building, is separated from the burned-out restaurant by a firewall. The bank escaped damage in the incident.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.