BILLINGS — On Jan. 13, a fire was intentionally started at the Nevada Jackpot Casino in central Billings. That fire damaged the building, shut down operations, and put employees out of work.
Now, more than three months later, a relief fundraiser has been organized for those employees.
The fundraiser is planned for Monday, April 10 at Hooligan's Sports Bar in downtown Billings, located at 109 N. Broadway. The event begins at 5 p.m. and will feature a silent auction along with a raffle, and 20% of the evening's sales will also be donated.
Jessica McKee is a co-owner of the casino, located at 1413 13th St. W., and says it's a small, family-run business. McKee tells MTN News her father was the previous owner, but after his death in 2019, she and her brothers took over operations. She states she is unsure of who would want to damage their business.
"I have grown up around casinos. My dad opened this first when I was seven, so that’s sort of a weird childhood thing. But they kind of feel like home to me,” McKee said on Friday. “The thing that’s been most great about this is our employees. We have a group of amazing women who love our customers. And we also have great customers. So I’ve just really enjoyed getting to know them, and getting to know the community who comes in here.”
McKee said the Jan. 13 fire was quite the shock.
“I got a call at 7 a.m. on Friday the 13th from our manager Teresa, who said, ‘Oh my gosh, the building's on fire. Get down there.’ So I ran in my pajamas down here and there were flames shooting out of the ceiling,” McKee said on Friday. “Apparently, an individual had tried to set a fire between our exterior cooler. And that had burned unnoticed for about an hour and a half and smoldered. Caused such a fire that it burned a hole through the back of the building."
According to a police spokesperson, the report of the fire did not initially come through as arson, but the fire department contacted a detective who works arson cases after believing the fire to be intentional. The detective was able to identify a suspect from surveillance video, and the case has been sent to the Yellowstone County Attorney's Office for review with a request for a warrant for the suspect. No arrests have been made.
But while the business waits for answers, McKee is focused on rebuilding and supporting her employees the best she can.
“I was born here. Our family’s been here for five generations. And Billings is full of good people who really want to support one another when hard things happen. So we’re just spreading the word because this isn’t a story about that guy. This is a story about our community. And we just trust our customers and our neighbors to come out and support our employees and their families. And also to help us get back on our feet after this thing happened,” McKee said. “When things like this happen, it’s really easy to feel hopeless. And I won’t lie, there have been nights we’ve come and have really wanted to give up. But I know Billings. And I know Billings isn’t about people like the guy who tried to burn our casino down."
And those employees are also ready to get back to work.
"Well, we’ve missed our customers a lot. We’re tired of sitting at home," said Teresa Uchtman, an employee of 23 years, on Friday. “We’ve all been here for a long time. So our customers, it’s like a big old family. And we really miss them."
And another longtime employee is also excited to re-open.
“Taking care of our customers, getting back into the swing of things. Back in routine. I personally don’t have kids or anything at home, so it’s probably been the easiest on me I think. So it’s going to be good to get back for sure,” said Kay Bakken, an employee of 12 years, on Friday. “There’s definitely going to be blessings that come out of this."
And others are ready to just get out of the house.
“I have kids. I am ready to get back to work. Absolutely. I miss everybody, all of our customers, all of the excitement throughout the night,” said Chelsey Rosendahl, an employee of nine years, on Friday. “A lot of unexpected things happen. And it’s frustrating at the moment, but the community has been so amazing."
The employees said they were feeling grateful for the support from the community—and other casinos.
The Sapphire Lounge and Casino in Billings reached out to the Jackpot Nevada Casino following the fire, looking for ways to help.
“We saw what happened over here at the Jackpot. We actually reached out to Jessica to help them out, and saw the community Monday thing at Hooligan’s,” said Clay Smith, the Sapphire's assistant general manager, on Friday. “We sat down with her, and she was kind of really new to the whole thing. And we’re like, you know what, calm down. We would love to help you guys. So we kind of sat down, had a little meeting."
Smith explained the Sapphire helps out with many auctions and raffles around town and wanted to assist with the fundraiser.
“We just get a bunch of items together. We do liquor baskets, there’s a really cool auto-detail package,” Smith said. "You can come and have a drink or some food, or just walk around and see the items."
And the Jackpot employees are grateful for the assistance. McKee wanted to express her gratitude for the company that is assisting in repairs: Billings Carpet Cleaning and Water Damage Restoration.
“The day that the fire took place, Teresa gives me a call. She’s like, ‘I need you out here now, someone lit the building on fire. I need help right now. I need you to take care of it.’ So we came running out. Fire department’s still here, they were just wrapping up. We come through, started assessing the loss right there, figure out what needs to be done,” said Andy Pirami, the owner of the restoration company, on Friday. “Inside was quite a bit of smoke damage, unfortunately."
Pirami said the company had a lot of work to do, but was happy to help.
“I've worked with the whole family for my entire career, which is 36 years in the industry. So, a long time," Pirami said.
And Pirami believes the restorations should be finishing up soon.
"It’s a whole lot of (gasps), and then all of a sudden it’s almost done. So we’re pretty excited, we can’t wait. Hopefully it’s going to be done at the end of the month. I can't wait to get this one done for these guys. They have been so helpful," Pirami said. "If anyone ever has any kinds of damages, give us a call. We'll come running 24-7."
The date for the grand reopening has not yet been announced, although both Pirami and McKee believe they should be ready to go by the end of the month. The business will announce the date on its Facebook page when it is set in stone.
"It’s been sort of a series of challenges getting open. But we’re thinking by the end of the month for sure," McKee said. "And we’ll have a grand reopening in May, early May hopefully. So we’re in the home stretch."
And while the business gets everything ready to start up again, co-owner Jessica McKee said she's grateful for the outpouring of support from the community that both she and her employees have received over the past few months.
“We’ve had great help getting that fixed. But it’s been a long road,” McKee said. "This is going to turn into a good story."
To learn more about the fundraiser or to RSVP, click here.
To learn more about Jackpot Nevada Casino, click here.
“It’s like a big old community of people that just stick together,” Uchtman said. “I think it’s pretty amazing, that everybody’s come together. We’ve gotten great support through everything. We have a lot of people to thank."
