A fire early Friday heavily damaged the roof of Kix on 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico. The restaurant will be closed indefinitely, but its owners have vowed to rebuild.
A local firefighter shot this photo of the fire shortly after it was reported.
Co-owner Donna Halfhill was in the kitchen about 4 a.m., getting ready for the breakfast shift, when she smelled smoke, then saw flames under the range hood.
The fire was controlled in about 90 minutes, and no one was injured. But about half of Kix’s roof is gone, including its trusses.
The building is insured, and the Halfhills have vowed to rebuild and reopen.
You can read more about the fire in a story from my day job at the Eastern New Mexico News.
Kix on 66 was just a day away from the second-year anniversary of its reopening under new owners Todd and Donna Halfhill.
The restaurant also was due Monday to receive a 2024 New Mexico Route 66 Association Heritage Award, though the ceremony still was on even after the fire. Chase Waters of Del’s Restaurant in Tucumcari will receive the same award that day.
Kix on 66 is housed in a 1960s-era Denny’s. Kix has been a breakfast and lunch fixture by Route 66ers and locals for more than two decades.
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