A fire at Yod Abyssinia, a traditional Bar and Restaurant on Cape Verde  Street next to Desalegn Hotel, on Wednesday April 16, totally demolished the cozy restaurant in less than 90 minutes. The blaze began with a faulty electric contact on the roof of the restaurant and spread so quickly, fire fighters were only able to rescue a fraction of the property.

“We had rushed to the scene seven minutes after we were called,” Leyesse Kebede, a fire fighter at the Addis Abeba Fire and Emergency Service, told Fortune. “Unfortunately, the grassy roof had aggravated the fire, which spread to everything found in the restaurant.” The Addis Abeba Fire Service estimates that the fire has turned 1.2 million Br worth of property into ashes. According to the service, close to 60 million Br worth of property has been saved.

Ten fire fighting vehicles were deployed to put of the fire: two from the Federal Police Commission, two from Ethiopian Airports Enterprise and six from the city fire service. Close to 100,000lt of water has been used to extinguish the fire.

Nonetheless, owner of Yod Abyssinia, Tezazu Kore, said he was disappointed by the response of the city fire service.
 

“The only thing they report is the quantity of water they used - not the value of property saved,” he bemoaned.
 

Tezazu claims that the fire fighters arrived after 25 minutes. He has another restaurant and gym behind Lex Plaza Building, off Haile Gebresellasie Avenue, and was planning to open up another restaurant around Sar Bet with the steady income he was grossing from the restaurant. 

“I feel sorry, not for myself, but for the 83 employees who have become jobless,” he said.