Owner Of Dairy Queen Crash Site Vows To Rebuild And Reopen
Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter
FARMERSVILLE - A North Texas Dairy Queen owner has a huge project ahead after a fire engine crashed and wiped out the corner of his building.
Now Joe McKee says it's only a matter of time before he and his employees are back to work.
"Just an old fashioned, good old Texas Dairy Queen. Been here for 30 years," McKee said.
When you look past the mess inside what's left of McKee's Dairy Queen, you can still see the pictures on the wall of the changes the restaurant has seen over the decades. One change they never anticipated was when a Greenville fire engine came crashing through the front of the building. McKee and his family have worked here so long, the place has become a part of them.
"My youngest one, when she was sick and couldn't go to school, we'd make her a pallet in the very back of the building, and she'd lay on that pallet, and...The cooks would take care of her, people that are still with me, so it's pretty devastating to me," he said.
No one was seriously injured in the crash. Police tell us the driver delivering the engine said the steering wheel locked on him. Investigators plan to perform an inspection on the truck to try to determine the cause of the crash. In the meantime, McKee worries about being out of business.
"My biggest concern is my employees that have worked for me, and insurance is only so much, but we're going to try to keep us all together, and we're going to get back in business and try to do the best we can," he said.
McKee estimates it could take about four months to rebuild, but he plans to meet with contractors to get a better sense of the timeline. He says no matter what, he plans to be open in time to serve ice cream this summer.
(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)