Truck shop vows to rebuild after devastating fire

Jan. 27--WAITE PARK -- It's been a hard 48 hours for Lady Jayne Fontaine.

What seemed to be a normal Thursday at her daughter's truck shop in Waite Park turned into a very scary and stressful time period for Fontaine, her family and employees at Rock On Trucks Inc.

Shortly before noon, firefighters from multiple agencies were called to the trucking company, 3100 Seventh St. S, to battle large flames that ultimately destroyed the business' shop.

For several hours, heavy, black smoke was seen blanketing the skies from as far as 2 miles away as crews worked to contain the blaze.

On Friday, Rock On Trucks' Safety Director Carl Johnson said the business is still working closely with the state fire marshal and insurance companies to come up with an estimated dollar amount for the damage sustained from the fire. No official cause for the fire had been determined.

Fontaine estimates about 40 people were at the shop during the fire. None of them was injured.

And for that Fontaine is grateful.

"People that I love were in that building," said Fontaine, Rock On Trucks spokeswoman.. "I just thank God that my family and friends and our employees were not hurt."

News reached Fontaine shortly after the fire had been reported. Her daughter, owner Krystal Vierkant, was out of the country on vacation.

Fontaine said she spent several hours trying to reach Vierkant to tell her about the fire. When she had ultimately got ahold of her daughter, Vierkant had already heard about the fire via social media.

But that same platform that first reported the tragedy to Vierkant has been the place where Fontaine, Vierkant and Rock On employees have received an outpouring of support from the community and the trucking industry itself.

"There has been nothing but love being given toward us," Fontaine said. "People are cheering us on to a better tomorrow."

Via Facebook on Friday morning, Vierkant extended her thanks to those who helped put out the fire.

"Although it was and is a tragedy, it is not what is most important," Vierkant wrote. "Our dedicated, hard-working employees, customers and vendors are all safe and that is what matters."

Even though Thursday's fire had dealt the local business a serious blow, Fontaine has high hopes that this event, no matter how devastating, will bring her family, the company and its employees closer.

Fontaine believes Rock On has plans to rebuild. After all, Fontaine said the company still has business to do.

"Buildings can be rebuilt," Fontaine said. "But you can't replace people. We were blessed and we were lucky. So now we need to pick up our boots and keep moving. That's the Rock On way."

Follow Vicki Ikeogu on Twitter @VickiSCTimes or on Facebook at facebook.com/sctimesvicki. Call her at 259-3662.

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