Suffolk News-Herald

Fire and health officials shut down Ricky’s and Roy’s Catering around 3 p.m. Saturday for cooking illegally.

Employees were discovered cooking at the Holland Road eatery, which has been closed since a Dec. 19 grease fire swept through the kitchen and injured three people, said Capt. Jim. T. Judkins, spokesman for the Suffolk Department of Fire and Rescue. This past Thursday, the fire department and the Suffolk Health Department refused to reissue fire and health permits needed for Ricky’s and Roy’s to reopen.

Responding to an anonymous tip, Fire Marshal Arthur Barrett and Fire Investigator Dave Taylor went into the business Saturday and found several employees cooking. The employees told officials they were working at the instruction of owner Ricky Conner, who was not at the scene, Judkins said.

The building is still condemned from the grease fire, he said. To reopen, Conner will have to bring the building to meet today’s fire safety code standards.

Calvin Jones, a health department official, cited the business for cooking with a suspended health permit violation, Judkins said.