The general

manager of the Ruby Tuesday restaurant in Peachtree City faces city ordinance

charges for failing to report an Aug. 6 fire that broke out in a trash

can in the men's room that reignited after employees thought they had

extinguished it, officials said.

Mary Milliken

has been charged with failure to report a fire, failure to evacuate a

building and obstruction of fire personnel.

Fire Marshal

John Dailey said failing to report the original fire endangered the safety

of the restaurant's patrons and employees.

"There

was a 20-minute delay in contacting us," Dailey said.

It was fortunate

no one was hurt, Dailey added; it was senior citizen's night at Ruby Tuesday

when the fire broke out, officials said.

The fire began

in a trash receptacle in the men's bathroom of the restaurant, and restaurant

employees attempted to put out the fire, Dailey said. But minutes later

the fire sparked up again and the restaurant had to call 911 to summon

firefighters.

"I'm not

sure if they thought they had it out or not," Dailey said.

Dailey contends

firefighters should have been called the first time, particularly because

they know how to put out the fire and make sure it didn't spread anywhere

else.

Dailey said

the store manager allowed the store to be evacuated when fire officials

ordered an evacuation, but the building should have been cleared out well

before that when the initial fire broke out.

Richard Johnson,

a corporate spokesman for Ruby Tuesday, said Milliken followed the company's

emergency procedures and made a judgement call that the fire in the trash

can had been put out with a fire extinguisher and was contained to the

trash can.

Johnson said

he didn't expect the company to discipline Milliken, but he would not

comment on the charges filed against her.

Johnson noted

that the restaurant replaced the old plastic trash can with a metal one

and put a partition near the trash can in the bathroom at the request

of safety officials. The restaurant also complied with other requests

from the fire department, health department and building inspector, Johnson

added.

"Our first

concern is always for the safety and welfare of our guests and employees,"

Johnson said.

Investigators

were unable to determine how the fire started in the wastebasket, Dailey

said, adding that it could have been caused by a cigarette that wasn't

fully extinguished.

The fire did

not cause any significant structural damage to the restaurant, and officials

allowed it to open the following day.