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Hamlin Country Cafe destroyed by fire

Some employees were getting ready for an event in the restaurant when they started smelling smoke.

LAKE ARIEL, Pa. — A family vows to rebuild after a devastating fire wrecked their restaurant early Sunday.

"If we have people sign it, it will give more meaning to it. And after what happened here, and this place means so much to so many people, I think it will be special," Labree Kellogg said.

Kellogg showed Newswatch 16 the welcome sign from her father's restaurant. It's all that's left of Country Cafe.

Around 2:45 a.m. Sunday, a fire destroyed everything else inside the family restaurant near Lake Ariel.

Owner Glen Kellogg says he found out when some of his employees were banging on his front door, warning him about the fire.

"They figure it was something up in the attic, a malfunction with the electric or something, that's what started the fire," he said.

Kellogg says some of his employees were in the restaurant, getting ready for an event the following morning until they started smelling smoke just before 3 a.m.

"They were in the back, and they didn't even realize the place was on fire where they were working," he said.

Both Labree And glen say everyone who came through the doors of the Country Cafe was a part of their family.

"I grew up coming to this place. And then I ended up buying it and remodeling it, so we got a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in here," Glen said.

"To see my dad like that, know what this place means to him and his employees, to see him devastated like that, it's like we had a death in the family," Labree said.

The father and daughter say they are working together to rebuild their restaurant.

Employees will work at the restaurant's second location in Daleville.

Credit: WNEP

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