An accidental fire ignited inside Latif’s By Pedretti Sunday afternoon that caused damage to the kitchen and prompted a temporary closure to the popular downtown eatery.

The restaurant was closed at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported.

The Turlock Fire Department received a report of a possible fire coming from the restaurant at 111 N. Golden State Boulevard at 4:42 p.m. Sunday.

The first firefighters to arrive at the restaurant saw heavy smoke coming from the HVAC vents on the roof and smoke filling up the bottom floor.

Firefighters made entry into the restaurant and began fighting the fire in the kitchen.

“The automatic hood extinguishing system had activated, helping to contain the fire,” said fire department spokesperson Capt. Jason Bernard.

The firefighters were able to douse the flames and checked the restaurant for any potential hot spots.

High powered fans were used to remove the smoke from both floors, Bernard said.

The fire was deemed accidental, however the fire department did not specify what was the cause.

The fire caused significant damage to the commercial cooktop and other appliances in the kitchen and prompted a temporary closure.

“Due to a kitchen fire, we will be temporarily closed,” Latif’s By Pedretti wrote on their Facebook page. “We want to thank all of our local firefighters who came together from Turlock, Ceres, Denair, Keyes, Modesto to work diligently and with complete unity! Thank you, Turlock PD as well! The amount of support is absolutely heartwarming. Everyone is safe and we hope to get up and running as soon as physically possible. Thank you!”

A GoFundMe account was created by Bavlani Youri in an effort to help the restaurant’s staff deal with the income loss.

“While insurance gets worked out and the kitchen gets rebuilt, we have the staff to look out for,” Youri wrote. “If you’ve ever been to Latif’s you know that the staff treats you like family and if you go often, they become family. With that being said, we, the friends of our Latif’s family have come together to ask for your help in supporting the hardworking staff who have always put a smile on our faces, and made sure our bellies were full.

“It's our time to put a smile on their face and show them some love!”

The account can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/latifs?fbclid=IwAR2XG3CDoT_IbQkn4C75VQxUqLvX4D4h62mU84PF78xigU4RL6n88V2Gm9g.