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Pizza Shop Reopens After Crash

WEST BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP — Russo’s Pizza Den in Schuylkill County is serving up slices once again. The pizza place near Orwigsburg reopened just abou...
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WEST BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP -- Russo's Pizza Den in Schuylkill County is serving up slices once again.

The pizza place near Orwigsburg reopened just about 24 hours after a big rig crashed into the pizza place.

The owner of Russo's Pizza Den, Mike Russo, said he had to reopen on Tuesday.

As he put it, the bills don't stop just because a truck drove into your dining room.

The driver of the tractor-trailer told state police he lost control after hitting ice on Route 61.

The truck went off the road and slammed into the dining area of Russo's.

The kitchen is still intact, so the owner opened up to keep the cash flow going.

"Income. You gotta do business and customers still want to get the best pizza you can get," said Russo.

The owner said it wasn't easy.

A group of employees spent four hours cleaning up the place after the crash on Monday and construction crews removed the rubble that was left in the dining room.

"When that truck hit it was like a dust ball going through. You could imagine how it went right through the building, so we were able to start at the top, work our way down and make it across. We got it all done," Russon said.

Russo's is only open for carry-out right now, but that didn't stop the customers from getting their pizza.

"To be honest with you, we did want to see the damage and we like the pizza!" said Alan Porter of Deer Lake.

Porter said he usually eats in the dining room, but taking the food to go is good enough for now.

While others were shocked the place is open and some just had to make the drive-thru jokes.

Bruce Johns of Hamburg said, "At first, I didn't believe it. I sad, are you serious? Ya know, so I gotta come down to today. Gotta bug him!"

Even though there isn't much left in the dining room at Russo's, the owner said things are moving along rather quickly.

Russo  said crews will be  putting up two new walls on Thursday.

"You don't want to be down. Ya know, employees need their income. We all need the income and you just want to be in business."

State police in Schuylkill Haven said the driver of the tractor trailer will most likely be cited with driving at an unsafe speed.

That charge comes with about a $200 fine.

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