Cathy and Michael Ley and their sons, Brad and Travis, had just finished their meals when Mr Ley went outside for a cigarette.

“I followed one of the cooks out the door and he looked up and saw flames on the roof, and I smelled the smoke,” Mr Ley said.

The employee went back inside the restaurant and raised the alarm.

“They just rushed everyone out, pushed everyone out, and said ‘there’s a fire, let’s go’,” Mrs Ley said.

The family said the restaurant had been packed at the time of the fire because three busloads of South Australian basketballers had only recently arrived and were queuing out the door to place their orders.

The players, as well as the Ley family, were on the Border for the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup.

But Mrs Ley said the volume of people hadn’t posed a problem in clearing the store.

“Within a minute everyone was out, although I raced back in to get my handbag,” she said.

The family said the fire had initially been contained to the roof, which meant everyone was able to get out of danger easily.

“We all had time to move our cars,” Mr Ley said.

Son Brad, 18, added: “It was just the motor (of the extraction fan) on fire for about five or 10 minutes and then it spread.”

Mrs Ley said she had been impressed with the employees’ handling of the fire.

“It was all very calm,” she said.

“An employee was a bit upset afterwards, which is understandable, given the shock.

“But they all did a really good job.”

Another employee, Renee Coote, watched the fire burn after the evacuation.

“It looked only small when we got outside but now it’s completely engulfed,” she said.

Ms Coote said staff had followed the fire plan and had checked the toilets to make sure no one was left inside.

“Even when we were trying to get the people out it was smokey inside,” she said.