WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – The owners of a popular Wichita food truck are starting over after a recent fire destroyed the truck and everything inside.
On Wednesday, 12 News spoke with the owners who say that despite the heavy loss, they’ll be back to serve the community.
Kelly Ake and Barb Taber opened Ken N Barbie’z Rollin Diner in 2017. They purchased the truck themselves, ran it themselves and made the business there lives, at least until last week when tragedy struck.
“Going down the highway, the generator had stopped, the back of the truck was on fire,” Ake said. “I mean, I just pulled over, stopped.”
Ake and Taber’s livelihood was going up in flames.
“And at that point, all we could do was go to the corner away from the truck and call 911,” Ake said. “We just watched it burn.”
The fire destroyed their food truck, but it’s not just their future that Ake and Taber are worried about; it’s the community that they know relies on them.
“It’s hard to know that we’re not able to follow through with our commitments and our scheduling,” Ake said. “It’s hard to not be able to give back and it’s hard to be in the position to need help.”
Rebuilding won’t be easy.
“We stay extremely busy and with this being our livelihood, it’s going to cut real deep for us,” Ake said.
Despite the setback, Ake and Taber are promising that they’ll be back, with a little help.
“We’ve had a lot of other food trucks reach out to us, offering what they can,” Ake said. It might not be an actual truck, but anything from coolers to tents and generators.”
They’re also getting plenty of support from family and friends.
“I do want to thank everybody that has reached out on our Facebook, and (through) phone calls (and) text messages. It really does mean the world to us. I mean, it’s very touching,” Ake said.
Ake and Taber filed an insurance claim but they haven’t yet figured out what their next steps will be. If you’d like to donate to help the pair get a new food truck you can do so here: Help Rebuild Ken n Barbie’z Rollin Diner.
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