Big J's FIRE!

Sunday morning at 5 a.m. I went downstairs to go to the bathroom and looked out the window because I saw lights flashing. Fire trucks were stopped outside my house which is next door to my parents house. I grabbed the only blanket in my living room which happened to be Jack's and barely fit around my belly. I was still in my underwear and 9 months pregnant. I ran outside to see Big J's in flames. I looked for my family but no one was around. The fire men were trying to break the door to get inside so I ran as fast as you have ever seen a pregnant lady run to wake my parents up (I was sore for 2 days after). I banged on the doors- they turn their door bells off- but no one could hear me. Luckily, Chelsie was sleeping in Shannon's apartment on the end of the house when I banged on that door. She heard me and thought I was a crazy person so she was scared to open it. She opened the door, asked if I had any clothes on and I told her Big J's was on fire and sprinted up the stairs to tell my parents. My mom was up, dressed and out the door before I could get the whole "Big J's is on FIRE" out and my Dad sat up- looked at me and yelled "I'M SLEEPING!" It took him about 5 times of me telling him to get up because Big J's is on fire before it registered and he flew out of bed. I grabbed some of my mom's clothes so I didn't get a ticket for indecent exposure- but she is so little I looked even more ridiculous with my belly hanging out my shirt and butt tight pants. It was pouring rain and there was nothing we could do to help. I went home to get Cort and he jumped out of bed and ran all the way over to see. It is amazing how fast something can just burn up and how helpless you are just watching it. That morning we still managed to serve 130 national guard guys that we were supposed to cater for lunch.


They think the cause of the fire began in the dryer. It was turned off in the middle of the cycle and didn't cool down so the heat caught fire.
Some of the damage in the kitchen
What used to be the menu board.
The office.
The firemen
An event like this makes you step back and look at things a little differently. We are glad it wasn't our house, or that no one was injured. The fire chief said if they would have waited 10 more minutes to catch the fire the building would have had a flash-back and exploded. We are lucky someone was driving on main street at 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning that was paying attention and saw the smoke. They are estimating about 2-4 months to recover and redo the building- pretty much everything will be replaced. My parents have had so much support and people have been so kind. It is amazing to me to see how generous people are when something like this occurs. So far everything is coming into place and things are getting taken care of. My dad has a great business mind and always has his bases covered. My mom is a very hard worker and really gets things done. We have already seen many blessings through this experience and hope to be back up in business soon. As of now, the worst part about it all is that we have to be like the pioneers and make our own lunch and dinner...