“I was cleaning the fryer, just like we’ve done once a week for 10 years,” he said. “Never had (something like that) happen ... I didn’t know what hit me.”
But, Dalton said, “It could have been a lot worse ... I was lucky.”
The burns were isolated to his face, mostly around his mouth, nose and eyes.
“I kept my eyebrows, luckily, (but) it gave me a nice trim,” he said.
He spent Wednesday evening at The Miami Valley Hospital Regional Burn Center and was released Thursday morning.
The community was quick to rally around Dalton and the business.
“Even (Thursday) we got busy ... once we posted that we were back open and running,” Dalton said.
Dalton said business took a hit earlier this week, and they lost about three days of sales due to the winter storm.
He said the community’s support is “very humbling.”
Following inspections by the building, fire and health department, the restaurant’s grill, fryer and griddle are back up and running.
Dalton, though, said he’s on “house arrest” for the next few days.
“No one will let me go anywhere,” he said. “My wife and daughters and mother have told me they will stop me from going anywhere.”
But, he said, it’s hard for him to sit still. He looks forward to getting back to the restaurant and hopefully making it to church Sunday.
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