Georgetown restaurant gutted by fire

A popular restaurant in Georgetown was gutted by an early morning fire.

The fire at Red State Taps on Opera Ally, just off South Broadway Street, started just after 5 a.m. Thursday.

A fire station sits next across from the restaurant. Crews were able to get to the scene quickly, but the fire had already caused a lot of damage.

The front porch of the restaurant was charred and the heat from the fire damaged the siding on a neighboring home.

The owner of Red State Taps also owns Red State BBQ in Lexington.

"One of the things that's most difficult is I've got a bunch of people that are not gonna have jobs, so that makes it most difficult, so we gotta try and help them out," said owner David Carroll. "It's devastating. You go through some shock, and then my mode of action is just basically you have to swing into gear, start calling people, let them know what's going on."

Some local musicians are working on setting up a benefit concert to raise money for the employees of Red State.