New information was uncovered Wednesday about a recent fire at a popular restaurant near the University of Texas.

KVUE News

Bert's Bar-B-Q caught fire early last Thursday, gutting the restaurant. Austin fire investigators said a short in a circuit breaker sparked the blaze.

It took crews more than an hour to get the 2-alarm fire under control.

Fire officials say a 9-1-1 caller reported smoke from the restaurant 45 minutes before the first firefighters responded to the fire. But Dispatcher Eric Mackey did not send any firefighters the first time because he said it's common for barbeque restaurants to smoke food overnight.

KVUE News

Caller: I don't .. it's a barbeque place, I don't know if they are like doing barbeque or something, but there's a lot of smoke coming out of the building. And it smells like smoke.

Dispatch: Okay, well I know a lot of barbeque places; they do have their smokers going at night.

Caller: Oh, really? Interesting.

By the time the second call was received, the business was already engulfed in flames.

"This situation appears to be an error in judgment. One of the things that is stressed to them is to err on the side of caution when making those decisions," said Chief Jim Evans, Austin Fire Department. "I think people need to understand the context of the situation. Clearly, an error in judgment was made. However, we receive numerous calls over the course of a year of this nature in which the dispatchers are using their knowledge and experience to determine whether or not to send resources."

Last year, AFD responded to more than 24,000 fire calls. Of the 1,700 odor or smoke calls AFD responded to last year, only 130 were actual fires.

"This is one time where we should have sent resources and did not," Evans said.

Taxi-cab driver Joel Perez made the second 911 call that resulted in Mackey calling for help. Perez told KVUE News Wednesday it's a shame the initial call wasn't taken more seriously.

Perez: There aren't any visible flames. There's a lot of smoke. It seems like something is burning. I just passed through the alley in the back of it. There is smoke coming out of like the roof of the place.

Dispatch: Ok. Does it smell like the wood or does it smells like something else is on fire?

Perez: No, it smells like wood. There's a lot of it. I was at the Jimmy John's across the street, and I could smell it. There's like all this - a bit of a haze of smoke around here.

Dispatch: Well, could they be smoking their brisket?

Perez: No, that's not brisket.

Mackey has over 26 years of experience with the Austin Fire Department and has been a dispatcher for the past six years. He is still assigned to AFD's communications division.

Evans says there is an ongoing investigation into the incident and it has not been determined whether Mackey should face disciplinary action.

Gary Johnson's family has owned Bert's Bar-B-Q for 37 years.

They said they were surprised about the delayed response by firefighters and aren't sure what they'll do next.

Damage from the fire was estimated at $300,000.