Beloved Orange Park barbecue restaurant almost completely lost to fire

A fire earlier this month almost completely brought down G’s Slow Cooked BBQ in Orange Park, causing more than $100,000 in damage.

On January 9th, Gary Park, the owner, woke up around 2:00 AM to a call that his restaurant was on fire. He didn’t know it had already torn the inside apart and burned a hole in his heart.

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“It was very devastating for me,” Park says, “this was my livelihood, this was my employees’ livelihood, this was a dream of mine for many, many years.”

Park’s restaurant had been open almost 12 years, but burned down in a matter of hours.

“One of the biggest fears you have as a restaurant owner, especially in a restaurant, is a fire. When I got the call, I couldn’t believe it, honestly,” says Park.

When the call came from Clay County Fire Rescue, Park says he and his 10 employees rushed to the restaurant, to find it already lost to the flames.

“This was their livelihood, it was mine, my big dream,” Park says.

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