Up from the ashes, Oscar's Smokehouse plans reopening

WARRENSBURG -- An historic Warrensburg smokehouse is ready to re-open, less than six months after a massive fire gutted the Warrensburg institution. 

Oscar's Smokehouse produces 10,000 pounds of smoked and cured meats a moth, says current owner Jerry Quintal. The fire destroyed the inventory, building and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment. 

But it didn't take long for Jerry, and his son Joq, to pull things back together.

"It wasn't a question of if when would rebuild, but how fast," said Joq Quintal, grandson of Oscar's namesake. 

Within days, Joq, Jerry and friends tried to salvage what they could. 

A butcher block and metal refrigerator door, along wiht bricks from the two original smokestacks, remained.

But after months of work, and more than $1 million, the business is now ready to reopen.

Last week, Oscar's Smokehouse got its USDA certification and they've also gotten necessary building permits. 

With the first shipment of nearly 1 ton of pork bellies, they hope to start getting meats ready for a February 20 launch.