KXAN Staff Published: May 30, 2017, 5:25 am Updated: May 30, 2017, 8:24 am
WIMBERLEY, Texas (KXAN) — Crews with the Wimberley and the North Hays County fire departments were active at a popular restaurant early Tuesday morning.
Investigators said the fire started around 2 a.m. in the kitchen of the Cypress Creek Cafe and Buzzard Bar located at 320 Wimberley Square. The cafe, built in 1937, was a major evacuation center during the 2015 flooding, being one of the only places in town that still had power.
“It’s our hub and it’s what we set ourselves around when we’re trying to get through a loss or when we experience something and now, for one of those pieces that is so centric, to be totally wiped out, that’s going to take a hard lick on us,” said Wimberley Mayor Mac McCullough. “I don’t know how much we’re going to bounce back, but it’s going to be tough.”
Officials said one dog and two cats in the building have not been located and are presumed dead. No humans were injured during the fire but the building received extensive damage, including the roof caving in.
The owners, who live in an apartment above the establishment, told KXAN’s Jorge Rodas they were alerted to the fire by smoke alarms around 1:30 a.m. and made their way out from the building’s balcony after getting turned around by intense smoke inside.
Investigators have preliminary damages set at $750,000.
The owners are now deciding what to do with the building, rebuild or demolish, while the town grieves the cafe that has come to mean so much to the community.
The Wimberley Fire Department said Ranch Road 12 through the Wimberley Square area was closed as investigators worked to determine the cause of the fire. It reopened around 7:10 a.m.