CAYCE, S.C. — The owners of the local Maurice's BBQ Piggie Park are speaking out after their family business headquarters caught fire Saturday night, leading to the decision to close all eight of their locations across the Midlands.
“I was watching it, and it kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and it was tragic to watch,” Llyod Bessinger said.
Bessinger, the president of Maurice’s BBQ, recalls watching his family business of 70 years catching fire on Saturday night.
“Of course, trying to pick up the pieces and figure out what to do next, how to get another facility that we can rent to cook our barbecue and other foods for our restaurants, and that's the process, and we're working with that now,” Bessinger said.
Around 9:15 Saturday night, the West Columbia Fire Department was called to the area of Charleston Hwy in Cayce. When they arrived, they found the administrative offices and cook house on fire.
"I was just thinking about the 70 years we've been here, and how you know, are you ever going to be able to get back open and that was a tragic thought, Bessinger said.
Because all of their foods were made inside the cookhouse…the restaurant has decided to close all 8 locations across the midlands until further notice
“In our commissary kitchen, we did all the food prep, the smoking of our meats, the making of our banana pudding and all that other good treats that we had, that was damaged and completely gone, but we're working on it,” Bessinger said.
The West Columbia Fire Department says their investigation on what caused the fire was undetermined but say right now they don't believe it was arson.
“We're going to probably open two or three this weekend and then next week some more but it's a process and unfortunately, it's a lot of work to be done,” Bessinger said.