Fast food restaurant burns down, owner does the amazing

PLATTEVILLE, WISCONSIN (KABC) -- When his fast food restaurant burned down, owner Bruce Kroll did the unexpected. He kept paying his employees.

Instead of telling his workers to find another job, he paid them out of his own pocket, a move that cost him $144,000.

The owner of the Wisconsin Culver's fast food chain for 19 years said it was the right thing to do.

"It is just a building, and Culver's Platteville is much more than that. It is the people," Kroll said.

Kroll asked only one thing of his employees: Volunteer time to the community.

The employees set up a fundraiser in honor of the local fire department and raised over $2,000.

The restaurant reopened June 16th. Ironically, that same day, it narrowly escaped a tornado that swept into town.