Cantina Cadillac owner hopeful after devastating fire: 'I think we can rebuild'
FORT WORTH (CBSNewsTexas.com) - Jay Hester is actually feeling more optimistic after the Cantina Cadillac fire on Saturday night.
Firefighters successfully put out a massive, three-alarm fire in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards. It started around 8:15 p.m. at the Cantina Cadillac, on the corner of West Exchange and Ellis.
"It's better than I thought it was going to be," said Hester. "I thought it was going to be a total loss.
Hester has owned the bar for 40 years.
"We were here before the Stockyards was popular," Hester said. "It was kind of like the wild west."
And Hester was also at the bar Saturday night having drinks with friends.
"Probably the last pictures of the bar we'll ever get," the bar owner said. "Like it used to be."
About 15 minutes after they left, a fire broke out at the back of the building. Everyone who was inside at the time made it out safely.
It took multiple fire departments two hours to get the fire under control.
"Obviously anytime we've got a building of this size, especially in the heart of the city, it's going to gather a big response," said Craig Trojacek with the Fort Worth Fire Department. "When you hear the stockyards it makes you go into a different gear."
Hester watched the whole thing in disbelief.
"The flames were up the back porch, the roof," said Hester. "It spread real fast. I saw the third floor go into the second floor last night, and when I saw that, I thought, 'Uh oh, second's going to first.'"
Hester said he plans to consult with structural engineers and the historical society and is confident a place with so much history will be able to open again.
"I think we can rebuild," Hester said.
Firefighters were able to prevent any extensive damage to other historic buildings near the Cantina Cadillac.
The building is more than a century old and the Stockyards is a national historic district. With the collapsed roof, the fire department says the structure could be compromised. Crews are still investigating to figure out where and how the fire started.
