A fire in Luling damaged multiple businesses Saturday and an investigation is underway as to what caused the situation.
Firefighters received a call at approximately 8:40 p.m. Saturday night, according to Luling Volunteer Fire Department Chief Barry Minnich, alerting of a fire near the Pizza Hut located at 12439 US-90. Minnich said firefighters arrived on scene about four minutes later to find heavy smoke coming from a vacant building that was part of a shopping center including Pop’s Sugar Shack, Beauty Boutique, Head Hunters Salon and Pizza Hut.
The firefighters were able to successfully put out the fire and limit the damage.
“We located a fire in the rear of a vacant building, that was perhaps being used improperly,” said Minnich. “The fire crews did a fabulous job of making entry where the fire originated and stopping it.”
Minnich said the cause of the fire is under investigation, with the Luling VFD and the state fire marshal’s office working in conjunction.
“It was a pretty hot fire,” said Minnich. “It was about eight foot by 12 when it got stopped. The smoke kind of rolled up into the common attic space across the complex and then down into the store space, where it caused problems.”
The part of the building that caught fire was the back of a vacant store space.
He said the noted businesses did not catch fire, but each suffered damage from the smoke.
The businesses have had to temporarily shut down until a certified electrician can sign off on restoring power to the complex and potentially rule out an electrical issue starting the fire.
“Once they can sign off with no issues, they’ll restore power,” Minnich said.
The owners of Pop’s Sugar Shack took to Facebook and thanked the community for its support following the situation, while noting the temporary closure.
“Pops Sugar Shack would like to take this time to say thank you to everyone who has reached out or posted about the fire at our building (Saturday). The support of our community is so amazing and very appreciated,” the message read.
“As many of (you) know we had a fire at the building last night everyone got out ok with zero injuries to customers or employees. We had minimal damage to our shop. We have a loss of electricity right now so we are at the mercy of energy and insurance claims. As soon as we get the OK to open we will have a grand reopening. So stay tuned.”
