By the time Park County Fire District 2 volunteers had cleared the scene early on the morning of May 29, employees of Bucky Hall’s Caleco Foundry in Cody had begun arriving at the scene. Some were in shock, some panicked and others angry, but all were suddenly looking for new jobs.

Kyle Bogan was mad. He had worked at the company for a decade; his emotions were understandable as he gazed into the burned out building that was once like a second home for him. But Emma Scott stood in defiance of the tragic fire, promising to open a new foundry to serve customers from the Big Horn Basin and neighboring states.

At the time it may have seemed like an impossible dream for the then 22-year-old as she found comfort in Lucy, one of Hall’s sweet pups. Scott loved the beautiful dog, who was often at the office. She knew it would be tough to see Lucy again as Hall swore he was done with the business. But Scott swore she was going to pick up where Hall’s career had ended after 46 years.

“My job was fun. It made me fall in love with the process to the point where I want to make it my career,” Scott said as she petted Lucy and pondered her future.

Hall had always referred to Scott and Bogan as the “dream team.” They took pride in their work and loved working on the final step of local artists’ creations. The two worked well together and shared the same work ethic. So the first person Scott called was Bogan, hoping he wanted a job.

Caleco was founded in 1978 and had nine employees when the business abruptly ended. Scott, a fabricator from Pennsylvania who has worked at the foundry for three years, had previously tried to buy the business. However, due to the high value of real estate in the mountain town, the price was too high for the single mother, she said. At the scene of the fire she vowed to start her foundry in Cody, but only if she could find a building in her budget.

Scott searched, but couldn’t find a place she could afford in the increasingly popular mountain town. Then she found a house for rent in Frannie. The modest home had enough room for her and her daughter. However, the three outbuildings — including a large metal shop — would be perfect for starting a the foundry.

Of course she was seemingly a long way from opening a business at the time, but she refused to quit on her dream. Equipment needed to start a small foundry could be purchased for about $40,000 to $50,000. But as Scott worked to open the business despite the high cost, she found folks who wanted to help.

She was able to “adopt” several pieces of key equipment that had survived the spring fire. And the Frannie community, including Mayor Steve Richardson, were happy to support her plan.

“Her business should grow. And the more it grows, the more businesses might come in, like other artists,” the mayor said. “The more she grows, the more Frannie will grow. It’s two sided.”

She was able to get fire suits, including retired bunkers from the Frannie fire department. Others needing the services of a foundry were eager to help. Family and friends were drawn into Scott’s dream and within a few months a cement pad next to the metal shop was poured.

The equipment needed included a furnace for melting bronze, a crucible to hold the molten metal, molds for casting the desired shapes, a cooling area for the 2,500-degree Fahrenheit materials, a sand mixing station (for sand casting), various hand tools for finishing, a wax injection machine (for lost-wax casting), and a hydraulic hoist had to be in place before Scott and Bogan could actually say they were open for business.

“The community has been a great help,” she said Saturday while getting ready for a Solstice pour party at her new business, Empress Bronze Foundry.

Their first pour (referring to pouring molten bronze into molds) was on Oct. 30. There have been a handful of pours since, but on the shortest day of the year the Dream Team wanted to throw a party to say thank you to everyone who had helped get the business off the ground.

As the furnaces were started — lighting up the night in orange — Scott stood gazing into the flames with a smile on her face. She knew there was much more to do to make the business profitable, but for the moment she couldn’t stop the smiles.

“We’re still getting our name out there, trying to prove ourselves in business. I mean, we’re just a little backyard foundry at this point,” she said.

A crowd gathered at a safe distance around the periphery, some eating food and drinking sodas while watching the flames gobble up metal and melting the wax out of molds. Local artist Bobbie Brown had just found the bravery to start having her sculptures bronzed when the Caleco fire put a hold on her plans. The foundry was the only one in operation in the basin and one of only three in the state.

“After it burned down I cried for a week,” Brown said while waiting for the big workplace show.

She is known for her paintings, but it’s her motto to never stop trying new things.

“My mother was an eccentric old lady, and her policy was we never stopped learning. And I’m about winter now, and I’m still not gonna stop learning,” she said. “I have a couple things at home that are finished and I’m willing to sacrifice them for the experiment.”

Brown said she hopes the Empress Foundry grows quickly and is able to serve more artists in the future.

That’s Scott’s dream. She’d like to grow the business in Frannie, eventually spawning a community of artists in the tiny town near the Montana border. While the fire at Caleco was tragic — losing a large commercial building, original molds and pieces of art worth millions — losing her job may have been the impetus Scott needed to move forward with her dream.

“Losing the foundry was kind of the big push for that,” she said. “We were up and operating in only four months.”

Scott dreams big and is unafraid to share them with others. Unlike many, her dreams seem to become reality despite obstacles.

Considering her success, maybe she should simply call her dreams plans at this point.