Senior Ellie Voci buys an average of one to two Little Caesars Hot-N-Ready pizzas every week during the school year. There have been weeks when the petite pizza enthusiast has purchased one four nights in a row. She takes pride in her ability to eat an entire Hot-N-Ready in under 20 minutes.
Unfortunately for Voci and other college students who frequent the Detroit-based pizza franchise, the Little Caesars on 380 West Carleton St. in Hillsdale suffered a damaging fire on July 22 and is still in the process of remodeling. No one was injured, however, and it will reopen at the end of October, owner Richard Massey said.
During an intense summer storm, lightning struck the building and set the right front corner of the roof on fire. A passerby, who noticed smoke and flames protruding from the building, notified the Hillsdale City Fire Department around 3 a.m.
“It’s just an act of nature that happens now and then,” Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Pauken said. “It’s not all that common, but certainly not uncommon. We have had a few over the years.”
Pauken said that little damage was done to the outside of the building, but the inside suffered “moderate damage.” The fire occurred in the dishwashing and storage area, but smoke and melting from heat caused destruction in the lobby as well.
Per fire code, the building did not have sprinklers, because its capacity does not require it. Pauken noted that the storm continued on through the night, sporadically startling the firefighters during their work.
Responding to the scene were two firetrucks and about 13 firemen. After they worked for 25 minutes to bring the fire under control, they ventilated the area and contacted the manager and owner at 5:30 a.m.
Massey owns the corporation R and E Pizza People, which is responsible for five Little Caesars Pizza franchises in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.
“He is very invested in the community and donates free pizzas to local charities,” Pauken said.
Massey specified that the Special Olympics organization receives donations from his store.
Massey was especially upset about the fire in Hillsdale because his franchise in Angola, Ind. was still recovering from another fire.
At the Angola store, security cameras recorded an old dough mixer catch fire and set the shop ablaze. Pauken said Massey was upset about the loss of business and employee wages at both stores.
Little Caesars will be looking to hire new employees at the store at the beginning of October, along with keeping some of their previous workers, to ensure readiness upon the completion of construction. So for students like Voci, who has been a loyal Little Caesars customer for 10 years, the wait is almost up.