DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Investigators are trying to figure out what sparked a massive fire that destroyed an auto repair shop and grocery store.
Crews had to back off after part of the building collapsed.
The fire sparked early on Wednesday morning along Rockbridge Road at the Beyo Auto Repair and Tire Shop and O&H Grocery Store.
The businesses are located in the same building.
Channel 2 Action News captured video of the moment the roof collapsed.
Some debris from the grocery store sign landed on top of a firefighter, who was checked out by paramedics on the scene.
Officials told Channel 2’s Bryan Mims that they had not identified a cause of the fire, but said it started on the side of the grocery store.
“You just have to pick up the pieces,” said Myron Michael, whose uncle owns Beyo Auto Repair and Tire Shop.
His uncle came to America as a refugee from Ethiopia and started this business a few years ago.
He’s out of the country and couldn’t see the damage for himself.
“It’s in times like these that show who you are,” Michael said. “I guess it shows my uncle who he is.”
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He described his uncle as “stoic” and unflinching in the face of obstacles – because he has overcome many.
“Really, I prayed about it, so I’m not too anxious,” Michael said.
The grocery store sustained the brunt of the damage.
Two brothers from Myanmar– Omar and Hassan – opened the store just a year and a half ago.
They gained a following in the community serving traditional food of Southeast Asia. The two declined interviews.
A third business operates from the property – a limousine service.
Nadeem Butt, a native of Pakistan, owns the company, and his limos made it through the fire mostly unscathed. And nothing could tarnish his outlook on life.
“Thank God I have a life, I make it,” he said. “This is a beautiful country.”
He said he came to this country in search of opportunity, and he succeeded.
“I’m a hard-working guy,” Butt said.
Now begins the hard task of recovering and rebuilding
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