YORK, Maine — Two “super hard-working” Rick’s Restaurant employees who received second degree burns following a small kitchen fire on Oct. 11 remain in good spirits, said Rick’s owner Veronica Gould, but they have a long road of rehabilitation ahead of them after they leave Maine Medical Center.
Neither Marianne Porter, the dining room manager, or kitchen worker BreeAnne McDowell have health insurance, said Gould. And although some of their hospital costs will be covered by Workers Compensation insurance, the fact is neither will be working for a while and both count on their paychecks. And that’s why Gould has mounted two GoFundMe pages for “Rick’s Chicks.”
“I don’t want them to worry about loss of income,” said Gould. “I would like them to be comfortable and just get better. I don’t want them rushing back to work because they feel they have to.”
The restaurant had closed on Oct. 11 because the kitchen equipment wasn’t working properly. No one else was in the restaurant at the time, and Porter was helping McDowell set up the kitchen for the following morning, said Gould.
They were lighting the pilot lights on the oven when a small propane burst hit both women in the face and arms, said Gould. The fire skittered across the floor and McDowell, who was wearing Capri pants, ran through it and so sustained further burns on her legs, said Gould. The fire was extinguished within minutes when a sprinkler system was activated.
Initial reports stated that the burst came from the fryolator, but that proved not to be the case, Gould said. “Thank goodness,” she said. “Grease burns would have been so much worse.”
That day was a homecoming of sorts. McDowell has worked for the restaurant for 18 months, left for a while, and was just coming back. It was her first day. “There was a really good vibe in the kitchen that morning. Marianne said, ‘It’s a new beginning. We’re all together again.’”
Both women were transferred to Maine Medical Center, where McDowell will remain at least through this week. Porter was to have left several days ago, but doctors told her they wanted her to stay a while longer, said Gould.
“With burn patients, you take it one day at a time. Both of them are in quite a bit of pain. But pain is a good sign, it means the nerves aren’t dead,” said Gould. “They each have a spot that the doctors are watching to see if they need a skin graft, but I think they’re going to be okay. The doctors are so happy with how the wounds are looking.”
Porter is a mother of two, whose paycheck is crucial toward “just helping to maintain the family household. And if she feels she has to be back to work, it’s going to make it harder to heal.” While McDowell is single, “her wounds are more substantial, and she will need more time to heal.”
“For BreeAnne, I worry it’s more than just physical healing. The first night, she had nightmares. Something like that can be traumatic,” said Gould.
For all of their pain, said Gould, “they are in such good spirits. They are both joking all the time. They have such soft, happy souls. They’re very good people. Even though, obviously, that’s not anything anyone wants to go through, they haven’t been negative at all.”
Meanwhile, said Gould, Rick’s is likely to remain closed until the end of this week. Cleanup crews are still working, and then local and state officials have to sign off before it can open.
Asked what the response has been from her customers, Gould said quickly, “Oh my gosh.”
“I was trying to figure out what the message is, why did this happen?” she said. “To be honest, I never knew until now the support that was right behind us. Customers have been reaching out by text, message and email. It’s really an incredible community. The girls feel it too.
“I feel like we have a huge support system. And I wouldn’t have known until something like this happened.”
To support McDowell, visit https://www.gofundme.com/breeanne-mcdowell-the-ricks-chicks; to support Porter, visit https://www.gofundme.com/the-ricks-chicks-porter?member=938496.
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