GEORGETOWN, TX - It's the charred debris that once made products for the propane industry that are now being sold as scrap.
Tuesday afternoon, CleanFUEL USA Curtis Donaldson watched crews tear down what's left of his 18-year-old business.
The night of June 2, fire left CleanFUEL's main building an empty shell. Williamson County Fire Marshall's ruled out arson, but failed to determine a cause.
"A lot of employees came out that night and watched it burn," said Donaldson. "So a lot of emotions really will go down when the building goes down."
From the products they sold, to the building they worked in, the fire cost CleanFUEL nearly $2 million in damages. Still, despite the loss the company found a way to keep business alive.
Seeing their neighbor in trouble, managers at Texas Outdoor Power Equipment wanted to help, so they donated space for CleanFUEL to set up shop.
Since the fire, 80-hour work weeks have been the norm for Brad Boyd. He and 37 co-workers have been busy preparing for Wednesday, when production resumes.
"It's exciting," said Boyd. "It's going to be exciting, we might even celebrate a little bit."
"We really get a fresh look at this," added Donaldson. "That's the day that I've really been waiting on is to see our first product get built, go back out, and get delivered to a customer."
The fresh start stretches to their old building. When it's leveled, a bigger shop will replace it and hopefully the painful memories of a destructive fire.
