By STAN MADDUX

Indiana Correspondent

CASSOPOLIS, Mich. — Just three days after being destroyed by fire, Dussel’s Farm Market had a pickup truck crash through a greenhouse not damaged by the flames.

Mark Dussel credited a pallet of thistle seed for stopping the vehicle inside, but the collision dashed his hopes of setting up a makeshift store in the greenhouse for the Christmas season.

The Dodge truck narrowly missed an insurance agent combing through the charred remains, and people inside the greenhouse had just left minutes prior to the crash, said Dussel, owner of the popular store in southwestern Michigan.

“It was a blessing from God that nobody got hurt,” he said.

According to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Kerry Richards, Ivan Hearld and a woman in the truck were taken into custody. Richards was charged with resisting and obstructing justice, and both men were charged with possession of methamphetamines. The woman was released so police did not provide her name.

Police did not provide further details about the wreck, but Dussel said the truck – after going up an embankment – went airborne prior to the crash.

Investigators last week were still trying to determine the cause of the early-morning Nov. 4 blaze starting in one of the two additions to the main structure. What wasn’t burned or scorched and melted from the heat was covered in heavy soot, said Penn Township Fire Chief James Bogue.

“What the fire didn’t get, the smoke. heat and water took care of the rest of it,” he said, adding there was no evidence of foul play.

The market at 21765 M-60 has been there for 20 years and enjoys a strong, loyal customer base. “It’s a small town. Everybody’s been there,” said Jeff Locke, chief of the Cassopolis Fire Department, which helped put out the blaze.

Much of the sweet corn, pumpkins and other fresh produce at the store is grown on-site. There is also meat from cattle raised on the property, along with canned goods and other grocery items including milk.

A good percentage of the flowers and other plants for sale were grown in the greenhouse. Dussel said the market was getting ready for the Christmas season when the fire broke out, and a makeshift store was going to be set up in the greenhouse.

Wreaths and garland made out of fresh greenery along with poinsettias and Christmas trees are among the items sold during the holidays at the market. “It was a nice place to go and good place to shop,” Bogue said.

Dussel said the fire- and vehicle-destroyed buildings will be torn down and replaced with new structures. The goal is to reopen in March 2019.

He said things were already challenging enough from a harvest of up-and-down weather, prior to the fire and crash. “It’s just something where you go, ‘Why me?” Why is this happening?’ But as farmers, we’re resilient and we’ll come back bigger and stronger.”