FREDERICKTOWN, Ohio (WCMH) — A weekend fire destroyed a decades-old, family-owned butcher shop in a Knox County community.  

“Was my wife and my office, and then the rest of it, the front there was our retail,” Mike Jessee, owner of Dee Jay’s Custom Butchering, said as he pointed at what’s left of the business. 

For almost 32 years, the building and business have been Jessee and his family’s livelihood. The butcher shop opened in Fredericktown in 1978. The Jessees have owned it since 1993.

The fire happened Saturday. Jessee showed NBC4 around on Monday morning. 

“It just kind of really set in this morning, especially when I got up to go to work, which I couldn’t go to work,” Jessee said. 

Someone driving by the shop noticed the fire and called 911. Pictures from the Fredericktown Community Fire District showed flames throughout most of the building. Jessee said nothing inside can be saved. 

“Kind of was not in belief until we got down here,” he said. “Really affected my daughter, she grew up here.”

The fire department got the call around 2:15 a.m. Nine different departments helped put the fire out, according to Chief Scott Mast.  

As much as Dee Jay’s is known for their product, Mast said the business has also been a great community supporter. A fundraising effort has now been started to help the beloved business owners. 

“It’s heartbreaking, it really is, and you feel for Mike and Jenny and for their employees and the effect it will have on our community, so it was heartbreaking — that was the best word I could describe when it all started,” Mast said. 

Jessee said there will be a comeback. 

“This is not the end of Dee Jay’s, no, we’ll just have to rebuild it and, hopefully, better,” he said.