Two fires total Big Dog Daddy’s Roadhouse

BAY CITY – Big Dog Daddy’s Roadhouse owner John Grabrick and 12 customers were inside the Bay City bar on Sunday, June 13 when someone smelled smoke and the power went out. When Grabrick went outside to check the meter, he saw flames shooting out of the back of the roof.

“It was kind of a freak accident,” he said Tuesday by phone. “We are waiting for the

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Photo by Theodore Tollefson fire investigator to come tell us what happened.”

Grabrick said the bar and his house trailer, both located at W7037 135th Ave., Bay City, were hit hard by the wind and hailstorm that rolled through the area Friday, June 11.

“It blew the trim work and skirting off the house trailer,” Grabrick said. “The hail beat the air conditioners all to pieces. We had a lot of tree top clean-up, a lot of it from the neighbors’ trees.”

Grabrick estimates the wind blew tree debris 150-200 yards. The wind also twisted the frame on a new pavilion the Grabricks are building. He spent all day Saturday fixing that.

Sunday, the bar was open and had about 12 customers inside when the blaze started in the attic around 3:11 p.m. Everyone made it outside with no injuries, though Grabrick’s wife suffered a panic attack, he said.

“We were watching out livelihood go up in smoke,” Grabrick said.

No one out front saw the fire immediately, since it started on the back side. A total of 36 firefights from Ellsworth and Red Wing responded, along with Ellsworth EMS, Red Wing EMS and Pierce County Sheriff’s Office deputies. River Falls Fire provided station coverage at Ellsworth while they worked to contain the blaze.

Ellsworth Assistant Fire Chief Chad Peterson said crews had the fire under control in about 30 minutes, and were on scene for about four hours.

“I want to thank all of the first responders and community who have been very supportive,” Grabrick said.

Two rescue cats who were in the bar office, Pizza and Puddin, made it out safely as well. The fire did not spread to any surrounding buildings.

Although heavily damaged, the fire departments were able to save half of the structure Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, the weather had different ideas. The wind kicked up Sunday night again, and around 11:30 p.m., the fire reignited. This time, it demolished what remained of the building.

“That was the worst part,” Grabrick said. “Is when the fire started up again and took down the rest of the building.”

Peterson said the cause of both fires is under investigation. He noted that wind was definitely a factor for firefighters in both events. No firefighters reported injuries in either response.

The following was posted on the Big Dog Daddy’s Roadhouse Facebook page Sunday, June 13: “The weekend from hell is almost over. On Friday we got hit hard by a storm. No power for 10 hours on Friday, which kept us closed for the day. Worked outside yesterday fixing the new pavilion since the wind tried to take it down. Today we got hit even harder when a fire started in the attic space and as a result, the building appears to be a total loss.”

Two regulars of Big Dog Daddy’s stopped by Monday afternoon to see the damage. They preferred to not be identified, but expressed their sorrow over the devastation.

“We come in every day. Yeah, nearly every day. Just happened to visit where we used to last year. We camped back behind the bar. A lot of great people meet here. Good food. This is devastating. They did volleyball leagues every Monday. This place would be packed with people. The leagues are supposed to be tonight, but I doubt that's happening,” one said.

The regulars, along with many other patrons leaving online reviews, consider the food at Big Dog Daddy’s to be the best in town.

Grabrick has been building a pavilion on the property as another hub for the local volleyball league and bar patrons. The pavilion showed minor damage from Friday’s storm, but the fire did not touch the structure.

The Grabricks shared their optimism for the future.

“We know what it means to the community, but we’ll be back,” Grabrick said.

He plans to salvage what he can from the wreckage, including old bricks to be used when rebuilding the new bar. Grabrick bought the former Hideaway in October 2012.

A Gofundme page is being set up to help the Grabricks with expenses not covered by insurance. The link can be found on their business Facebook page. You can also contact Grabrick at [email protected]

Photo courtesy of Big Dog Daddy’s Facebook page

Big Dog Daddy’s Roadhouse burns to the ground as firefighters battle the blaze Sunday, June 13.