FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth Stockyards businesses Sunday raised money for Cantina Cadillac employees who've lost income since their bar burned in August.
Lil Red's Longhorn Saloon hosted a silent auction and took donations from patrons. Nearby bars, hotels and shops contributed items for bidding, including a guitar autographed by Willie Nelson and unique Stockyards experiences.
"This is just a small way of showing our affection for the Cadillac," Lil Red's owner Craig Copeland said.
Copeland and other bar owners have hired on some Cantina Cadillac employees since the August fire at the 115-year-old Edelbrock Building. Firefighters struggled to extinguish flames fed by a malfunctioning gas line that took hours to disconnect.
Fire departments from Fort Worth, River Oak, Saginaw, Sansom Park and Lake Worth helped prevent flames from spreading to the buildings connected to the Cantina Cadillac. It took 15 fire engines, five chiefs and seven aerial ladders to control the flames.
The roof collapsed into the building's top floors, ruining space above the historic bar.
Owner Jay Hester says he intends to re-open Cantina Cadillac, but engineers are still assessing the structure's integrity. Though not severely burned, the bottom-floor bar suffered water damage as firefighters battled the flames above.
"They're saying we can rebuild," Hester said Sunday. "But we're waiting to put a roof on."
If engineers' initial analysis proves correct, Hester estimates it'll take another eight or 10 months to re-open the bar. Hester has owned the watering hole for at least 40 years.
Copeland joked that he remembers patronizing the historic bar when he was "young and mischievous."
"I knew he was going to have displaced employees," Copeland said. "I got to thinking about it and said, 'Well, let me help.'"
"It's just overwhelming the love people are showing," Copeland continued, during the benefit Sunday. "It goes further than the Stockyards and the Cadillac. That's Fort Worth, Texas for you."