'Suspicious' fire destroys Fayetteville's Maverick's Saloon

Firefighters called the cause of a fire early Wednesday at a Fayetteville nightclub suspicious while investigators spent the morning trying to determine its cause.

Posted 10:30 a.m. Sep 9, 2015 — Updated 2:34 a.m. Sep 11, 2015

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Firefighters called the cause of a fire early Wednesday at a Fayetteville nightclub suspicious while investigators spent the morning trying to determine its cause.

"We're looking at several areas of the building inside the business, so we haven't pinpointed anything at this time," said Fayetteville assistant fire chief, Richard Bradshaw.

The club, Maverick's Saloon at 2606-A Raeford Road, has been the subject of a social media firestorm this week after a New Jersey man posted to Facebook pictures of a friend he claims was injured in a scuffle with one of the club's bouncers.

In his post, Giovanni Ignazio calls the man, Gabriel Ciraulo, his little brother.

"This was not a bar fight, there was no fight. This was an establishment allowing their 250-300 lb bouncer to savagely attack a 150 lb veteran who had recently gotten home from a combat tour in Afghanistan," Ignazio wrote.

"Fayetteville PD is still looking into that situation and trying to confirm if it did, or did not, happen," Bradshaw said. "Naturally, if we get that information passed on to us, we'll look at that."

Fayetteville Police said they're investigating Ignazio's claims. They also asked that the public let them get the facts about the fire and the fight before passing judgment on social media.

A fire department spokesman said no one was injured in the fire.

Suggest A Correction