Popular downtown Lafayette restaurant damaged by water, smoke in building fire

LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) --Black Cafe in downtown Lafayette suffered extensive water and smoke damage following a building fire over the weekend.

The restaurant will be closed until further notice.

In a social media post, cafe owners, Trey and Jodee Ware announced that they will be working in the coming days to raise money to support their employees who will now be out of work.

"We are going to need help in the coming days and weeks. We will need to fundraise, and we may need volunteer help, as well. Our employees’ livelihoods have once again been disrupted, and we need to get back to work as soon as possible."

The fire happened before dawn Saturday inside an apartment above Black Café.

"Right now, we are wrapping our heads around the steps we need to take to resume business. We are accustomed to flooding and have taken the necessary precautions for those situations, but this time, water came from above, and it is impossible to have contingency plans for both possibilities." the Ware's said.

The Lafayette Fire Department is investigating.

No injuries were reported.