Owner doesn’t know if The Cookie Jar will reopen

DUNLAP, Tenn. (WDEF) – We now know the cause behind a fire that has destroyed a beloved restaurant in Sequatchie County.

The owner of the Cookie Jar Café, Sue Ann Lockhart, and her family have ran a farm off of Kelly Cross Road for approximately 150 years.

For the past 21, the Cookie Jar Café has been the centerpiece of that farm.

Credit: Dunlap Fire Department

But its future is in serious jeopardy after a devastating fire Sunday morning, as a vacation turned into a nightmare.

Lockhart said, “My husband is a volunteer fire department member for Dunlap, and we got the tones on his cell phone while we were at the beach, and the address of our restaurant came up and that’s how we found out.”

Several agencies including the Dunlap Fire Department responded shortly before 6 a.m. to the scene.

Firefighters say they faced difficulty in battling the fire, as they say there were no fire hydrants nearby.

It took them three hours to contain the fire.

The damage at the Cookie Jar Café is extensive.

In particular, the dining room, kitchen and roof all seem to have taken the heaviest damages.

Workers on Monday were tarping up the roof.

Lockhart says that the TBI did do a sweep of the building Sunday to investigate the cause.

She says that it was caused by an electrical fire in an old outlet, and that their investigation is complete. 

As for the future, Lockhart said, “I honestly can’t answer that question, we’re still sifting through everything and trying to figure out what our next move is.”

In the meantime, Lockhart has a message for the community.

She said, “We want just want to thank them for their support over the years, and just ask them to please keep us in their prayers, that God will guide us what to do next… We couldn’t ask anything from our community because they’ve kept us going this long and that’s more than enough.”

Other residents in the Dunlap area told News 12 that they are upset at the news of the fire, and if this is it for the restaurant, they will miss their home cooking and desserts.