The past few years have been rather tough on more than one Ford dealer, as those entities have dealt with waning inventory levels, a subsequent struggle to secure inventory, and the controversial Model e Certified program, which is now required for dealers that wish to sell EVs. While Ford CEO Jim Farley recently met with dealers and noted that he’s open to feedback, some still feel a bit left out in the cold, regardless. However, one particular Ford dealer – Lubbers Ford in Cheney, Kansas – is dealing with a far bigger and more expensive problem at the moment, according to KAKE news.
That problem is a massive fire that engulfed the dealership in flames earlier this week, which is believed to have been caused by a spark created while an employee was performing spot welds on a vehicle. That spark reportedly ignited a nearby chemical, which quickly caught on fire. It wasn’t long before those flames engulfed the entire service department, which had five customer cars parked in it at the time.
Now, the dealership is aiming to make things right for those customers while also repairing its service area and replacing all of the tools it lost to the fire as well. Luckily, however, no one was seriously injured as a result of the incident, thanks to a quick response from the Cheney volunteer fire department. One employee was treated for smoke inhalation, but otherwise, everyone made it out just fine. Sadly, Lubbers estimates that it the fire did cause a whopping $1 million in damage, though it’s clear that things could have been much worse.
“You know you can replace cars, you can replace buildings, but lives are a different story,” said Billy Lubbers, owner of Lubbers Ford Inc. “I mean I cannot say enough, we got really extremely lucky. It could’ve been a lot worse. Had that fire department not showed up as fast as they did it could have been really bad. We’re gonna build back and we’re gonna build back bigger and better.”
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