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Green Dragon Market expected to reopen next Friday after fire

Several shoppers stopped by the Green Dragon Market in Lancaster County on Friday, only to find out it wasn’t open. The market has been closed since last ...

Several shoppers stopped by the Green Dragon Market in Lancaster County on Friday, only to find out it wasn’t open. The market has been closed since last Saturday morning due to a fire.

“It was the most helpless feeling I’ve ever had in my life,” said Rob Rohrbach, who owns the Green Dragon Market.  The popular farmer’s market is only open on Fridays. “Typically 20,000 to 25,000 people come through here in a day,” said Rohrbach.

While the market was busy on Friday, it wasn’t business as usual. “This is devastating to all of us,” said Rohrbach. He said everyone is working hard to get the market reopen by next Friday, September 26th.

“We want to get this cleaned out of here and get it cleaned up. We feel (it’s) ‘out of sight, out of mind’ at this point. We want to move forward, we want to rebuild, we want the Green Dragon to be better,” said Rohrbach.

Rebuilding?
For six years Duane Bailey has run “Everything Chocolate” at the Green Dragon Market in Ephrata. “We sell frozen chocolate-covered bananas, frozen chocolate-covered cheesecake, fresh fruit smoothies, chocolate-covered strawberries, chocolate-covered bacon,” said Bailey. But, instead of opening up for the day, he is picking up what’s left of his business.

“I’m just getting the last little bit that is salvageable, some signs, and some personal stuff,” said Bailey. “Everything is just melted from the intense heat.”

The fire gutted the main building, and some smaller ones, including his stand. Bailey isn’t sure if he will rebuild. “It brings about mixed emotions, how to put a name on that emotion, I don’t think I really can,” said Bailey. “We have to tear down the building my friends and I built 6 years ago.”

While Bailey has insurance, not everyone does. “I feel sorry for the ones who didn’t, and even some that did and their insurance won’t cover near what they need to.  It’s interrupting income. Some of these people, this is a huge part of their livelihood,” said Bailey.

Investigation
Rohrbach said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, and certain items were moved to another location so vendors could start cleaning up.

For more information about Green Dragon click here

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