RUMFORD — No one was injured in a Fryolator fire early Saturday evening at the Circle K fuel station and convenience store at 5 Bridge St., officials said.

Rumford and Mexico firefighters and Rumford police who responded to the 4:55 p.m. call found the deep fryer ablaze and the store filling with smoke, Rumford fire Chief Bob Chase said.

Chase said employees and customers had already left the building when the fire broke out. He said the Fryolator was used to cook chicken.

“There was pretty good smoke in the building when we arrived,” he said.

He said the store didn’t have a sprinkler system, but there was a hood system over the Fryolators. However, it didn’t activate. He said he thinks there wasn’t enough heat built up.

“We had knockdown pretty quick, but there was still a lot of heat in the vat of grease,” Chase said.

There was no structural damage to the building, but Chase said he wasn’t sure whether there was any smoke damage. He said the Fryolator was heavily damaged.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com