LAKE CITY, Fla. – A Papa John's Pizza restaurant in Lake City has risen from the ashes.
The pizza shop was destroyed in an arson fire in October, but it reopened its doors Thursday, welcoming a steady stream of customers and phones that were ringing off the hook.
Detectives arrested Sean Davidson and Bryan Sullivan, both of whom were managers at the Domino's Pizza just up the road.
"We were only in business for about eight weeks. We were doing really well," Papa John's co-owner Jacob Wilkes said.
Investigators said one of the men confessed to torching the restaurant because they were jealous of Papa John's and wanted to get more business for their pizza place.
But on Thursday, Papa John's was back up and running.
"It's been steady since we've been in here," customer Shari Bundy said. "We started to pick it up to take it home, but we said, 'No, let's eat while it's good and hot.' And it's been fun watching the people come in."
Wilkes and his crew rebuilt the restaurant from the ground up.
"So we've done most everything ourselves," Wilkes said. "We've learned a lot about construction, I guess, and if we want to open another one, then we're a lot more prepared."
Wilkes said he didn't want his employees to suffer, so he kept them on the payroll and basically turned them into construction workers.
"The way the economy is, we felt it was the right thing to do rather than to just say, 'It's not our fault the store burned down. You got to find something else,'" Wilkes said.
"The way the economy is, we felt it was the right thing to do rather than to just say, 'It's not our fault the store burned down. You got to find something else,'" Wilkes said.
The workers say they're especially grateful to be making money and pizza again. And as for the men accused firing things up, employees say they forgive them.
"I feel bad for them," Wilkes said. "I would have to imagine that they just regret what they did and had no idea the magnitude of what was going to happen."
Davidson and Sullivan have each pleaded not guilty to arson. They've been released from jail and have another court hearing April 23.
Meanwhile, the owners and employees at Papa John's say they are grateful for all the love and support that they had over the difficult months, and over the next couple of days they're going to be delivering pizza to all of the people who helped them out -- the firefighters, first responders and surrounding businesses.