Bakery finding community support after fire

Charissa and Bryan McBurney started their bakery, the Serial Grillers & Killer Sweets, from their home in 2017. The McBurneys are fulfilling orders from their home again after a fire closed their storefront on Sept. 6.

“We actually started off as a home bakery and we quickly outgrew it,” Charissa said. “In 2021, we finally opened with the help of my mom, my sister, and my sister in-law. We opened our storefront and we have just been crazy with cakes. Our upfront has been nuts, and our lunches and everything.”

In April, Charissa was named a finalist for the Rising Star USA award at the American Cake Awards 2024 for her work.

Since opening the storefront, Serial Grillers & Killer Sweets has become a major part of the London community for many.

“It’s amazing to think like, oh we just did your wedding cake, and now we’re already at your first kids’ birthday. Hopefully we can be at all of their birthdays. We love being a part of that,” Charissa said.

On Sept. 6, however, a fire shut down the bakery. It happened around 6:15 a.m., and a video from inside the store shows the moment something lit up and filled the store with smoke.

“We literally had cakes due that day,” Charissa said. “We had just gotten our cakes done for the weekend, so everyone’s cakes were gone. We couldn’t use them. That was very stressful to let people down like that.”

In the days since, the community has shown support and started a GoFundMe to help the McBurneys, who hope to clean up and rebuild in the same building in the Dog Patch Trading Center area.

“The support from the community as a whole has been so heartwarming,” said Charissa.

In the meantime, the McBurneys are back at home but are not backing down as they try to continue completing orders.

“From where we could do 30 to 40 cakes over a weekend, we’re now working from home and can only fill four to five at the most,” Charissa said. “We don’t have the room to store everything. I mean, we’ve got cakes and four kids, so it’s a lot to do out of the house.”

You can find Serial Grillers & Killer Sweets on Facebook and Instagram . You can donate to the GoFundMe here .