Fire Departments and EMS crews are pictured at the McDonald’s in Fredonia on Sunday night. Photo by Dan Kohler

Flashing lights surrounded a Fredonia restaurant late Sunday after three employees were injured in a fire and explosion.

Chautauqua County Sheriff’s deputies reported early Monday that at 10:20 p.m., multiple calls came into the Dispatch Center reporting an explosion with injuries at the McDonald’s located at 500 E. Main St. The Fredonia Fire Department and Fredonia Police Department responded with assistance from the Dunkirk Police Department, New York State Police, Alstar Ambulance, and the Chautauqua County Office of Emergency Services.

A female employee was flown to ECMC in Buffalo for treatment, another female employee was transported to a Brooks-TLC Hospital in Dunkirk for treatment, and a male employee was evaluated at the scene.

Fredonia Fire Department, in a release issued Monday morning, indicated it arrived in under three minutes to find all occupants evacuated and being triaged. Crews confirmed the fire was contained by the sprinkler system with no extension, and utilities were secured.

Onlookers gathered across Route 60 to watch what was taking place shortly after the incident. Employees, once responders arrived, gathered on the east side of the building in the aftermath while the high-traffic operation was without power after the incident.

The Chautauqua County Fire Investigation Team was requested to assist in an origin and cause investigation of this incident. Through the investigation, it was determined that an employee had pulled out a grilling unit in order to clean behind it. In pulling out the unit, the natural gas line that supplied the grilling unit became detached, allowing natural gas to flow freely and was ignited by another grilling unit causing the explosion.

Safety features that were in place automatically shut off the natural gas supply and extinguished the fire keeping damages to a minimum. The McDonald’s remains closed and the fire is being ruled accidental in nature.

Fire crews operated for approximately three hours.