West Columbia, SC (WACH) — A massive fire at Maurice’s Piggy Park Barbeque left the area staple in disrepair and left 200 employees with nowhere to work. Authorities said that the fire started around 21.30 on Saturday and that they were investigating the cause of the fire.

While the investigation into what happened continues, the franchise’s CEO and President, Lloyd Bessinger, expressed how difficult the path forward is: “When you have something like this and you have to completely shut down, it’s a little bit overwhelming, and we’ve been open for almost 70 years,” Bessinger said. “It’s a pretty daunting task when you lose your main facility.”

The sudden closure of all venues left happy customers in shock. “The food was great, it was good, nothing bad ever came out of here,” said one loyal customer. “It’s become an institution for a lot of people here.”

Although the task of finding a new facility will be difficult and people will be unemployed, Bessinger said they hope to have all facilities open by the end of this week.