A Fairplay cafe that has been a neighbor for over 20 years has been destroyed by fire
Dec 15, 2025
FAIRPLAY, Colo. If you have lost everything, how are you supposed to feel? That's what the owner of the Mr. Burro Cafe is navigating as she grieves the loss of the restaurant and worries about how her six employees will make it
though."I was out on my ranch and my wife called and said something awful has happened in Fairplay," said Bob White, who owns a ranch near the cafe. "I thought somebody died and she said the Brown Burro is burning. And really, that was as bad as somebody dying."Fairplay is the little town that sits in the middle of South Park, Colorado at 10,000 feet, with fewer than a thousand residents. Outside the cafe, its like time stopped. The menu in the window featuring their Fairplay skillet is still taped up. The waffle maker and a bag of bagels sit outside on ice and broken twigs.Owner Mily Romero stood outside."I just told them I'm praying for them and wanted to hug them," said Jane Newman, who went up to Mily to hug her. The hardest part right now isn't losing her business or what shes going to do. Mily is worried about her six employees, who feel like family."We lost everything... Our income. I know they have payments too," she said."Shes worried about everyone else except herself," White said. If shes here today for one reason, its to make sure everyone knows how grateful she is for her very small family of 700 people.Ashes may be flying away, but one thing seems to be sticking here: The thought that Mily and her six employees are not going through this alone, and that the Mr. Burro Cafe will be back.A GoFundMe is available here to support the rebuilding.
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