LANCASTER, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Benford Brewing nearly went up in flames overnight. Owner Bryan Oneal was smoking some meat for the next day when he says his smoker caught fire early Saturday morning.
"We lost pretty much everything in smoke damage. The structure is salvageable; the brewery equipment is salvageable. We lost lights, we burnt wires," Oneal said. "There was a grill sitting beside it and it caught on fire, lit the propane tank, basically made a blowtorch called the insulation on fire. And it woke my wife up."
It made her wake him up to see what was going on. Thankfully, they were able to call 911 just minutes before the building was in ashes.
He's taken at least three trailers to the dumpster of things they couldn't save.
Close friends who were once only customers showed up early to help clean up debris. Oneal says it's a testament to his 13-year-old business.
"He's a community advocate. He'll do anything for any charity that's reputable and he'll let them use his farm. He's done it for years and years. And when you know, when I found out, I knew I had to come and help. And there's been an army of people," said close friend Jim King.
While the clean-up was happening, more customers arrived. Madeline Cobb hadn't been to the brewery for the last two years; she says she wanted to bring her husband while they were visiting family.
"I was a little confused walking up and I could smell it. I didn't really realize what was going on, and everyone was outside, which is normal. But then, yeah, he just walked up to us. It's like there was a fire last night. Do you want a beer?" Cobb said.
"We have plenty of beer. So if somebody wants to come out here and have a beer, we have plenty. Picnic table would be a lot of green space," Oneal said.
Through it all, Oneal remains optimistic.
"We'll fix that stuff. It's much better than it could've been," he said.
Oneal is only asking the public's help for one thing, just come out and get a beer!
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