ATLANTA — A chicken restaurant chain showed its support for a popular Jamaican restaurant destroyed in a fire by paying for hundreds of meals Tuesday.

Last month, a fire destroyed Dat Fire Jerk Chicken, a Jamaican restaurant off Northside Drive.

Owner Jay John told Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen that an accidental fire started in the restaurant’s smoke shack shortly before noon on April 20. He said they were in the middle of grilling food for the day when the fire started and got out of hand.

“I was actually on the grill in the area when the fire took over,” John said. “And my first priority was to make sure everyone was safe.”

Everyone got out safe, but the building was destroyed. John has vowed to rebuild and has been operating out of a food truck since the fire.

On Tuesday, Nando’s PERi-PERi Chicken, a South African chicken restaurant expanding soon to metro Atlanta, announced it would pay for 404 meals to support Dat Fire Jerk Chicken’s rebuilding efforts.

“We have had the opportunity to really explore the city of Atlanta several times over the past year as we gear up for our presence in the market, and we always leave feeling inspired by the culturally diverse and vibrant community,” Nando’s CEO John Fisher said.

The meals were handed out Tuesday afternoon from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Nando’s said if there are any meals left over, they will be donated to PAWkids, a nonprofit that supports and provides food and holistic resources to children and families in need.

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