Debbie Self, owner of Louisville’s Stooges Bar, said she can’t believe “the bar is still there” after the UPS plane crashed on Nov. 4.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As soon as Debbie Self got the call that there had been a plane crash near Stooges Bar & Grill, the bar she’s owned for more than 40 years, she left her cousin’s birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse and drove toward the dark clouds rolling in the sky. From about three miles away, she noticed the smell of smoke before looking closely.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is bad,'” Self, 76, told the USA TODAY Network’s Louisville Courier-Journal.
She was unable to access the building, one of the stores closest to the site of the fatal UPS cargo plane crash, but heard from a bartender Tuesday night that all of the Stooges had been safely evacuated.
Self then turned on the television and, like others in the city and around the world, witnessed the horrific scene that has so far left at least nine people dead and others seriously injured.
“My building was almost taken over,” Self said of the sports bar, a popular hangout for Ford and UPS Worldport employees who work nearby. “It really happened.”
Under the roaring smoke and flames, she saw that the white building with a green roof and a volleyball court in the backyard, where patrons used to wave excitedly at the planes passing overhead, was still standing.
“I can’t believe it’s still there,” she said.
Family, friends, customers and onlookers were also in disbelief, according to hundreds of calls and messages that checked in on Self.
And when Gov. Andy Beshear told CNN News Central on Wednesday that the situation “could get much worse,” he acknowledged that the crash narrowly missed the Stooges and other buildings.
“It’s hard to lose more than nine people in such a violent manner,” Beshear said. “But let me tell you, this plane barely missed the restaurant bar.”
A Facebook post by the Stooges at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4, asking people to “pray that we don’t get hit” and “pray for the pilot, his family, and all the first responders” received more than 2,000 responses.
As of Wednesday morning, the Stooges were still intact, but Self didn’t know the extent of the damage to the building. She said emergency officials refused to let her near Glade Lane or her facility as of 7 a.m.
“It looks like the Stooges are in a war zone,” she said. “That’s what it looks like to me.”
On Wednesday morning, Self also updated the bar’s 20,000 Facebook followers: “Looks like the Stooges are okay, but they’re not allowed back yet.” Business is closed until further notice.
For now, Self said she’s worried about the future of her business, her longtime customers, her employees and the city.
“My heart is so heavy,” she posted on Facebook.
On Tuesday, as she watched the “tragedy” between calls, Self said she sat down and screamed. And she prayed. She said she will continue to pray.
“This is one of the toughest things I will ever go through,” she said. “I never want to go through something like this again. I’m so sorry for the loss of life. It’s heartbreaking.”
Contact reporter Amanda Hancock at ahancock@courier-journal.com.
