“We did it once; we can do it again.” Those are the words of an optimistic Mike Roberson as he surveyed the damage following Friday morning’s fire at his Cornelia restaurant.
Looking at the entrance, it’s hard to detect the damage done when fire leaped from the smokehouse into the kitchen at Wolf Creek BBQ. Peer inside the building, and it’s clear it’s going to take a lot to recover.
“It’s probably pretty well going to be a total loss,” says Cornelia Fire Chief Billy Joe Jenkins. “We were able to save from the kitchen back to the front door, but the fire did get into the kitchen area [and] the prep area.”
Roberson was inside the restaurant preparing for the day when the fire started. He noticed the temperature gauge on the smoker was rapidly rising. When he went outside to check on it, he discovered the doors to the smokehouse had cracked open, ventilating the fire.
Around 5:40 a.m., he called 911.
Firefighters from Cornelia, Lee Arrendale, and Demorest responded to the call along with Habersham EMS. They remained on the scene at 727 North Main Street for three hours.
Firefighters not only had to contend with extinguishing the flames, but they also had to cool down propane tanks to keep them from exploding. They successfully contained the fire and kept it from spreading—the part of the building that didn’t burn sustained heavy water damage.
Roberson’s wife, Connie, held back tears as she stood in the parking lot. She lost her job not too long ago, so this comes at an especially challenging time for the couple.
“He works tirelessly at this, and he loves it,” she says of her husband.
Roberson opened the restaurant on North Main Street two-and-a-half years ago and has enjoyed a faithful following ever since.
“I want to thank the customers for all their support leading up to this, and, hopefully, he’ll reopen soon, and we’ll just look forward to them coming back then,” says Connie.
The restaurant was insured, and some items can be salvaged.
“Well, right now, we’re just going to have to sort of evaluate it,” Mike says. “You know, are we going to stay here, or are we going to move somewhere else?”
While some things remain uncertain for this popular eatery, one thing does not: “We will be back as soon as we can, so, just stand by, and we’ll let you know where we’re going to be.”
