FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — A fire on Sunday afternoon in Frankfort destroyed a standalone garage holding two classic Ford show trucks and decades of memories. The garage belonged to Floyd May Sr., who was not home when the fire began around 2 p.m.
Floyd May Jr. pointed out how hot the fire burned over the weekend.
“I mean it melted the transmission into a ball, it got so hot,” May Jr. said, pointing to the remains of an engine sitting on the ground. “The front wheel of the truck, it’s melted. There’s an aluminum intake back here that’s melted.”
Thankfully, the fire did not jump to either of the nearby houses. However, the heat from the flames melted much of the vinyl siding off of both homes. The fire even cooked a few tomatoes that were still growing on nearby plants.
The garage provided a place for memories and working on cars.
“He’s always fooled with the old Ford trucks,” May Jr. said of his dad.
May Jr. owned a 1956 Ford F-100 pickup truck, while May Sr. had a 1953 Ford F-100 panel truck.
Working on the trucks through the years brought the two together.
“We tore mine apart in 2020,” May Jr. said. “Then I had to have a five bypass heart surgery in ‘21, and he worked on it a little bit by himself, and then when I got back to where I could do stuff, then we came back in here and finished it all.”
“That was kind of his, like, safe haven after my grandmother passed,” said Ashley Winchester, May Sr.’s granddaughter. “He was always out there tinkering.”
Covering Kentucky
'It was accidental': Veridian Apartment fire caused by smoking product
In the days since the fire, Winchester has actively worked to catch the attention of someone who could help.
“My family is very much a Ford-oriented family,” she said.
Through the power of social media, Winchester hopes someone from Ford will take notice. She has posted on TikTok and reached out to other platforms, trying to get the story of her dad and grandfather out to the public.
“I was just hoping that I could do something to help them recover what they lost,” Winchester said. “Like I know it can’t replace the memories, but I know the material things are a lot.”
“You know, at least nobody was hurt,” May Jr. said. “I mean yeah, we lost a lot. You've just got to kind of move on.”
