How a strip-mall fire in Palms continues to affect a string of businesses
Jay Betts had planned to spending his day preparing a catering order for a wedding with 200 guests. Instead he woke to a 6 a.m. phone call bearing some of the worst news a business owner can hear: There’d been a fire, still raging, and no one was aware of the extent of the damage.
Today, much of the the center of the building remains burned out. Select businesses, such as Bernie’s, now have heavy chains across their door handles. A long fence has been erected along half of the building’s facade forming a barricade between the parking lot and what was the entrance to select storefronts — and, for a time, a makeshift memorial to the 17 cats, photos and roses left in the rubble by their owners.
The day of the fire he hired a moving crew and ran to Home Depot to purchase deep freezers for his home and his garage as he could no longer access his restaurant space nor its storage. The hired crew also helped to move the restaurant’s ordering tablets, all other cash and valuables, and the TVs and framed photos from the walls. He’s glad they did: Within days of the fire, someone broke into Bernie’s by wire-cutting the back screen door.Every day feels like a scramble now.
Down the single-story plaza, others weren’t so lucky. Chef-founder Danny Cheng has been serving Mandarin, Sichuan and Hunan-style cuisine from the kitchen of Golden China Restaurant since 1983. The fire closed his restaurant on Sept. 17, and the next day a representative shared that it could be one full year for the restaurant to reopen.
“So getting the call this time set off alarm bells,” said owner Courtney Williams. “Luckily for us again, we didn’t get damage.”
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Inside ‘Frasier’ Co-Creator David Lee’s Modernist Palm Springs Home RenovationThe writer-producer has updated a 1985 house in the desert by E. Stewart Williams, known for designing Frank Sinatra’s famed Twin Palms residence.
Read more »
2 Long Beach firefighters injured battling blaze at strip mallTwo firefighters were hospitalized in unknown condition after battling a third-alarm fire at a strip mall in Long Beach, officials said.
Read more »
Vigil held for 6-year-old killed by suspected drunk driver in SW HoustonA 6-year-old died last Saturday after a suspected drunk driver ran him over repeatedly in a southwest Houston strip mall parking lot.
Read more »
In ranking of fastest drive-thru restaurants, Chick-fil-A no longer No. 1Nationwide, the average drive-thru order takes 372 seconds. The new report indicated that friendly service often led to fast and accurate orders.
Read more »
Chick-fil-A has slowest drive-thru, 2022 fast-food report saysA new survey found that Chick-fil-A has the slowest drive-thru in the United States with Taco Bell coming in as the fastest drive-thru.
Read more »