Devastating fire tears through Oscar's Frozen Custard in Brookfield

WAUKESHA COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Crews responded to a large fire at Oscar's Frozen Custard in Brookfield early Tuesday morning, Nov. 19.  

Flames were seen shooting out of the roof at the popular restaurant. 

For more than 30 years, Oscar’s Frozen Custard has been a place to create memories.

“My husband and I opened this in 1992,” said Susie Taylor, co-owner of Oscar’s.

That all changed early Tuesday morning when Taylor got a call from her daughter-in-law.

“She said, ‘Susie, Oscar’s is on fire’ and I thought oh no. I was thinking oh, is there a small fire?” said Taylor.

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Flames shot through the roof, leaving the inside of the beloved frozen custard shop gutted. Taylor says no one was inside the store at the time of the fire. She says they’re working on getting employees from the Waukesha shifted to their two other locations in West Allis and Franklin.

“Shock. Very shocked,” said Taylor. “This fire here is particularly devastating.”

Customers say they’ve shared engagements, birthdays, and other milestones at the Waukesha location.

“I’ve been coming here since I was about 7. I’m 30 now,” said Andrew Stevenson, a customer. “It's sad. I was just here, it’s a weird feeling. I was here maybe a week or two ago and now this happened. My whole family is devastated. They grew up on this place, too.”

It’s something Taylor’s been hearing since the devastating loss.

“Please bring Oscar’s back and they saying that already and it hasn’t even been 24 hours and so that gives me hope,” said Taylor.

That’s why she says they’re going to rebuild as soon as they can.

“Let people create those memories again,” said Taylor.

Fire crews returned to Oscar's Frozen Custard in Brookfield Tuesday night.

Firefighters told our crew there was a flare-up, but they were having trouble reaching it because of all the debris. The morning fire caused the roof to collapse and destroyed most of what was inside.