SPOKANE, Wash. — Rod Smith is rebuilding his life and his business after the Autumn Lane fire reduced Big Rod’s Texas BBQ to ash two months ago.
The food truck owner’s prep shop and supply storage facility burned to the ground when the Spokane-area fire spread rapidly through the region. Smith estimates the total damage at a couple hundred thousand dollars, losing two brand new ovens and close to 1,000 pounds of meat.
But the financial losses pale in comparison to what Smith lost that day: irreplaceable family keepsakes.
“Out of everything, if I can have the video tapes back of my mom, that was hard,” Smith said.
Smith moved to the Inland Northwest from Texas.
“I like the atmosphere, I like the view, I like everything,” he said. But his beloved view of the Spokane River quickly changed when the Autumn Lane fire ignited August 1.
When Level Three evacuations were issued, Smith and his wife grabbed essentials from their home and evacuated, towing their business trailer behind them. They returned a few days later to discover their house had survived, but their business shop had not.
Despite the setback, Smith is determined to rebuild.
Crews have leveled what remained of the shop, and construction discussions are scheduled soon.
He hopes to reopen and serve the community by April, but he’s making significant changes to prevent another disaster.
“I want to make sure I put a couple more safety things in, like, gravel everywhere. I don’t want this to ever happen again,” Smith said. He also plans to relocate the business to a different spot on his property rather than rebuild in the burned location.
The experience has taught Smith valuable lessons about nature’s power. “I learned two lessons how strong water is and how strong fire is. Those two things you don’t play with,” he said.
For now, Smith is taking it one day at a time. “The first thing you do, thank God you’re alive and then just take it day by day, a little bit by little bit … and just build,” he said.
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